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fingering. On the piano Cmaj11 (C E G B D F) is easy to play. The notes can be voiced in ascending order, three in
each hand. If you try to do that on the guitar, look what happens: C is sixth string, fret eight; E is fifth string, fret
seven; G is fourth string, fret five. Holding these down will use up your first, third and fourth fingers – but you've
got only half the chord. What about B (third string, fret four), D (second string, fret three) and F (first string, fret
one)? Very often one of the notes has to be left out – usually either the fifth or the ninth - to make an 11th chord
playable. They do turn up, though: an 11th is heard at start of 'I'm Not In Love', resolving to a straight major chord.
Major and Minor 13ths
All 13th chords on the guitar are a compromise. As with the 11th, they are difficult to finger and some notes have to
be left out. These chords are formed by adding the 13th (the sixth an octave higher) to a dominant or a major or
minor 11th. Cdom 13 is C E G Bb D F A; Cmaj13 is C E G B D F A; Cm13 is C Eb G Bb D F A. The formation of
the minor 13 is affected by which minor scale is used, Aeolian or Dorian. One variant that does sometimes appear is
the dom7add13 (C E G Bb A) because it is easy to play. There are a number of these in 'Oblivious'.
Complex chords such as these have little function in popular songwriting because their tone colours are too
indistinct. The relationships of the chords you choose are much more important than the types, as long as the ones
you're using generally fit the style in which you're writing.
Slash Chords That Are Not Inversions
Take an ordinary F major, top four strings only: F A C F. If we add the open fifth