The Ab13 grip — the half-step-above approach chord

This week you learn the neosoul signature: instead of grabbing the target chord dead-on, you slide in from a half-step above. Just a half-step above G13 — last week's landing chord — you lightly set a chord and then push it down: that chord is Ab13. Today we start by laying that approach chord's shape onto the hand.

The good news is that Ab13 isn't a new grip. Just shift last week's G13 form up one fret and you already have Ab13. The hand shape is identical; only the position moves up a half-step. The 6th-string root goes from fret 3 (G) to fret 4 (Ab), and every other note follows +1 fret too.

First, let's re-check the familiar G13 form. On the 6th string, fret 3 is the root G, the 4th string is b7, the 3rd string is the 3rd, and the 2nd string is the 13th. Once these four notes are firmly in your eye, all you have to do is push up one fret.

▶ The familiar G13. From the 6th-string 3rd-fret root, b7·3rd·13th stack across the 4th·3rd·2nd strings.

Now let's shift this whole form up one fret. The 6th string fret 4 (Ab) becomes the new root, and b7·3rd·13th all climb one step. The spacing between fingers doesn't change at all — the whole hand just moves up a half-step.

▶ The Ab13 grip. Same hand shape as G13, just with the 6th string moved up to fret 4.

Let's confirm it by ear, too. Ring Ab13 long as a whole note and you'll feel a slightly floating tension a half-step higher than G13. That floating feel is exactly the energy that will slide down the next day.

▶ BPM 75. Ring Ab13 long for a whole bar. Put the floating color of the half-step-above into your ear.

0–10 min · Warm-up BPM 65. Warm the hand by grabbing G13 and Ab13 in turn. You only move one fret up and down, so it isn't hard.

10–20 min · Brain training (a one-fret move) With the left hand only, silently draw the G13 → Ab13 move. Just feel the whole hand sliding up a half-step in one block.

20–40 min · Grip check (BPM 75) Repeat the two bars below. Ring Ab13 in bar 1 and G13 in bar 2, each long as a whole note, and practice only moving smoothly between the two grips.

▶ BPM 75. Ring Ab13 → G13 one bar each, long. Carve the difference in hand shape between the two grips into your body.

40–50 min · Recording / self-feedback (recommended) Record 30 seconds and listen back. Check whether the pitch difference between Ab13 and G13 is clearly distinct in your ear.

Done when: You can shift the G13 form up one fret to grab the Ab13 grip accurately and ring it cleanly as a whole note.

Here are just the mistakes that show up most when you build the Ab13 grip.

▶ On the 6th string, fret 4→3 is the Ab→G root; on the 3rd string, fret 5→4 is each chord's 3rd.

• The sound is muddy. The 5th and 1st strings are muted. Lightly cover them so they don't ring.
• You raise one fret too few. Leaving it as G13 won't do. All four notes are exactly +1 fret.
• Your wrist feels stiff. Moving up to fret 4 squeezes the hand a bit. Drop the thumb to the center back of the neck to release the tension.
• The 13th won't press. The 2nd string fret 6 is the pinky. Tap it with the tip so it doesn't touch the neighboring strings.