Left-handed F13 diagram
Vertical: high e on the left, nut at the top. Horizontal: high e at the top, nut on the right. X = silent, O = open. Dot numbers are fingers: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 little. A thick line joins notes held with one finger as a barre.
Fret and finger guide
Both codes read from low E to high e, regardless of the diagram view.
- Frets
1 · x · 1 · 2 · 3 · 3- Fingers
- 1 · – · 2 · 3 · 4 · 4
- Level
- Advanced (this fingering)
Make a clean F13 chord
Pick only the sounding strings. Keep X-marked strings silent, place each finger just behind its fret wire, and release pressure between attempts. This practical voicing leaves out 5, 11; the full chord formula is shown separately.
- Place one finger at a time, just behind the fret wire.
- Pick each sounding string slowly. Adjust any finger that mutes its neighbour.
- Release pressure, then make the shape again. Aim for a relaxed hand.
- Strum four beats, rest for four, then repeat. Rest if your hand becomes tired; stop if you feel pain.
More fingering ideas
Compare the alternative voicing and choose the position that sounds clear without straining your hand.
Fret codes are written low E to high e. An x means leave that string silent.
Practise chord changes with a metronome →F13 notes and chord formula
The full stacked formula runs up to the thirteenth. Practical guitar voicings leave notes out. Both shapes here omit the fifth and natural eleventh; the compact alternative also omits the ninth. Leaving out the eleventh avoids its semitone clash with the major third; the third, flat seventh and thirteenth give the shape its character.
- Formula
- 1 – 3 – 5 – b7 – 9 – 11 – 13
- Chord notes
- F – A – C – Eb – G – Bb – D
This shape omits degrees 5, 11. The notes above describe the full chord.
How to read chord diagrams · Build a comfortable barre · Connect chord shapes with CAGED
Need a term explained? Chord names and formulas → · Flat fifths and other intervals →