A♭ seventh, sharp nine, flat thirteen

A♭7(♯9♭13)

Also written G♯7(♯9♭13) · A♭7alt (often) · Ab7#9b13

NotesA♭ · C · E♭ · G♭ · B · F♭
Formula1 · 3 · 5 · ♭7 · ♯9 · ♭13

F♭ is the key you know as E.

C3B♯9F♭♭13A♭1E♭5G♭♭7
All its notes, from the root

The altered sound in its most common form: ♯9 (B) and ♭13 (F♭) over the 3rd and ♭7. Charts often write it simply as A♭7alt. V of C♯ minor.

How pianists voice A♭7(♯9♭13)

Nobody plays a jazz chord in root position. These are the shapes that actually get played — the same ones Cadenza shows when you play the chord.

Shell Left hand

C3A♭1G♭♭7

1 · 3 · ♭7 — root, 3rd and 7th: the three notes that say what the chord is. Left hand, low; everything else is colour.

Rootless A From the 3rd

C3F♭♭13B♯9G♭♭7

3 · ♭13 · ♭7 · ♯9 — no root: the bass player has it. The left-hand voicing of modern jazz piano. Without A♭ underneath, the same keys read as Cmaj7(♯11) — the bass turns them into A♭7(♯9♭13).

Rootless B From the 7th

B♯9C3F♭♭13G♭♭7

♭7 · ♯9 · 3 · ♭13 — the other half of the pair. A and B alternate through a ii–V–I so the hand barely moves.

Drop 2 Two hands

F♭♭13C3A♭1G♭♭7

♭13 · 1 · 3 · ♭7 — close position with the second voice from the top dropped an octave: wider, warmer, the standard for chord melody.

Upper structure ♭VI Triad over shell

C3B♯9F♭♭13A♭1G♭♭7A♭1

1 · 3 · ♭7 · 1 · ♯9 · ♭13 — an E major triad in the right hand (♭13, root and ♯9) over the root, 3rd and ♭7 in the left. One familiar shape, all the tension.

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