Just to prove that he can count beyond ten, Andy Honeybone introduces the wilder amongst us to such esoterica as the eleventh and thirteenth chords. He reckons there's more to come, too. Phew.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, there is a rationale behind the order in which material is being presented in this series.

First came hints on how to practice and a plea for the occasional scale (June); in July came interval nomenclature to enable us to converse and get into jargon more rapidly. Simple chords followed with a brief look at modes (August), and last month the five classifications of chord were discussed.

In the exposition of the foregoing, three ground rules were applied: musical notation would be kept to a minimum; examples would be chosen in random keys rather than the traditionally accepted "C"; and four-part right-hand chords would only be introduced once the possibilities of three-part chords had been exhausted.

The decision regarding notation appeared logical as those in the market for an educational top-up were unlikely to have arrived at these pages via the classical-training route.

The varying key signatures of the examples were chosen in defiance of all the standard texts — these tend to end in exercises which glibly instruct you to transpose the given material into all keys. If you're semi-pro, there are few enough hours in the day as it is — it makes more sense to present a palette of different colours to experiment with rather than one of different shades of the same colour. Not only that, but we are after all supposed to be going outside of C.

As for making the most of three notes, I can't emphasise this point enough. Don't think that the notes have to be a basic triad — the subtlety comes in how you choose them. Space is a vital quantity in group playing. Washes of complex chords not only constrain harmonic invention by others but also fatigue the listener. Thelonious Monk was one of the greatest exponents of economy; he suggested vast chords by playing a two-note distillation. Bill Evans, too, was fond of "fragments" of chords played as a left-hand accompaniment.

There can be no substitute for listening to records by these great players. All I can do is point you in the right direction — and there'll be more in further articles.

Back on the topic of faking fancy chords from simple triads played over a bass note, here's a few more. Last month we were only concerned with making the five different chord types (major, minor, dominant seventh, half-diminished, and diminished).

Let's get spicy and move on to the eleventh. This can be categorised as a dominant seventh type chord (remember, the chord is named after its highest interval — the seventh and ninth are also assumed to be present). The eleventh is widely used in funk. Parallel elevenths (that is, a series of ascending eleventh chords) can be found in the introductions to the Crusaders' "Street Life" and Everything But The Girl's "Each And Every One".

The eleventh is formed by playing a major triad (eg F, A, C — F major) over a bass note that is a tone higher (G).

Hence, counting from the bass note, the F is the seventh in the key of G, the A the ninth, and C is the eleventh. You may be puzzled that there is no supposedly essential major third (B) present in this chord. If you were to add it, the flavour of the chord would be altered for the worse. Should you be troubled further I can arrange an appointment with the good Dr Spliff. My view of this musicological hiccup is that the chord has a dual identity as a suspended fourth.

Suspended chords are those which hold over a note from a previous chord. Although the books usually give you it in highly general terms, a suspended chord (written as Sus 4) has its third elbowed out of the way and a fourth substituted. Many tunes have been written which rely on the rhythmic alternation between the suspended and major forms of a single chord (eg "Pinball Wizard", "Brass In Pocket", and "Hold Your Head Up").

In the case of the eleventh, the eleventh is the same note (albeit at the octave) as the fourth (C in the case of our G major example). As the third is missing in each case we have neither major nor minor.

These chords of ambiguous tonality are particularly useful and will, I promise you, be studied in a later session. Both suspended and eleventh chords can be said to have an element of tension which the ear likes to hear resolved for completeness. When this does not happen and more elevenths or suspensions are stacked up, the climbing effect is accelerated — as in the introductions of the tunes quoted above.

As a young 'erbert I can well remember rushing home with an advanced Chord Dictionary for the guitar and going through each example to find some juicy ones. I remember being very disappointed because they all sounded very uncomfortable and certainly wouldn't do to hold for two bars at a time.

Now, I can philosophise that altered chords are like weeds being flowers in the wrong place. Very often it is the melody line of a tune which, when superimposed over the underlying simple harmony for the duration of a single note, creates a "complex" chord.

Many chord types are therefore only suitable for use "in passing". When skeins of melody are incorporated into chordal playing the result is usually described as "syrupy" — nevertheless, it usually engenders great envy.

A classic example of a passing chord is the flattened ninth which can be concocted from a diminished chord played against a bass note a major third lower than the lowest note of the chord. Hence E flat (-9) is a G diminished (G, B, D, E) with an E bass. The flattened ninth (E) desperately wants to resolve to the tonic E and so a good deal of tension exists. The chord has elements of both diminished and dominant seventh, and is widely used in ballads.

Tastefully astringent is the thirteenth (flat nine). This can be yours for the price of a second inversion major chord played over a root and seventh bass, starting a major third lower than the lowest right-hand note. For example, F major (second inversion) (C, F, A) played over (A, G). Sorry suddenly to throw two notes in the left mit, but it's the only way to get the spread.

Next time the left-hand and what to do with it.

IF I WANTED to appear to be a Heavy Metal fan, I'd describe this chord as symbolic of when the Wizard's cloak flurried and a rain of golden stars fell to the ground. If, however, I wanted to show my age I'd say it was definitely in the style of Genesis or even Supertramp. Whatever. It's a minor ninth to be played as a downward glissando (bring each subsequent note in a fraction behind the previous).