B13 B dominant thirteenth chord
- Notes
- B D# F# A C# E G#
- Formula
- 1 3 5 b7 9 11 13
- Semitones
- 0 4 7 10 14 17 21 above the root
- Other symbols
- Bdom13
B to D# is a major third (4 semitones), D# to F# is a minor third (3 semitones), F# to A is a minor third (3 semitones), A to C# is a major third (4 semitones), C# to E is a minor third (3 semitones), E to G# is a major third (4 semitones). A dominant seventh with the thirteenth, G#, on top. The full chord has seven notes and a guitar has six strings, so players keep the root, the third D#, the seventh A and the thirteenth G#, and leave out the fifth, the ninth and above all the eleventh E, which clashes with the third. The thirteenth is the sixth an octave up; it is a 13 and not a 6 chord because the seventh is there.
B13 on the piano
Root position from B4: B4, D#5, F#5, A5, C#6, E6, G#6. Middle C is C4.
B13 on the guitar
Standard tuning (E A D G B E). Strings run low E on the left to high e on the right, frets downwards; × is a muted string, ○ an open string, and each dot shows the note it sounds, with the root in blue-green. Every shape below has B as its lowest note.
x 2 x 2 4 4 (low E to high e)
Sounds B2 A3 D#4 G#4, fifth, ninth and eleventh left out
7 x 7 8 9 x (low E to high e)
Sounds B2 A3 D#4 G#4, fifth, ninth and eleventh left out
The E-shape and A-shape grips are movable: an E-shape chord's root is the note under your first finger on the low E string, an A-shape chord's root is the note on the A string. Slide the same grip up or down to play dominant thirteenth chords on other roots.
Inversions of B13
An inversion puts a note other than the root in the bass. The name is what semicord's chord finder calls those notes played bottom to top; a slash name like C/E means a C chord with E in the bass.
| Position | Notes, bass first | Named | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Root position | B D# F# A C# E G# | B13 | |
| 1st inversion | D# F# A C# E G# B | B13/D# | |
| 2nd inversion | F# A C# E G# B D# | F#m13 (also read as B13/F#) | |
| 3rd inversion | A C# E G# B D# F# | B13/A | |
| 4th inversion | C# E G# B D# F# A | B13/C# | |
| 5th inversion | E G# B D# F# A C# | B13/E | |
| 6th inversion | G# B D# F# A C# E | B13/G# |
Where B13 fits
B13 is V13 in E major. Played with its third, seventh and thirteenth (D#, A, G#) over the root, it is the standard dominant chord of jazz and soul, resolving to E.