D13 D dominant thirteenth chord
- Notes
- D F# A C E G B
- Formula
- 1 3 5 b7 9 11 13
- Semitones
- 0 4 7 10 14 17 21 above the root
- Other symbols
- Ddom13
D to F# is a major third (4 semitones), F# to A is a minor third (3 semitones), A to C is a minor third (3 semitones), C to E is a major third (4 semitones), E to G is a minor third (3 semitones), G to B is a major third (4 semitones). A dominant seventh with the thirteenth, B, on top. The full chord has seven notes and a guitar has six strings, so players keep the root, the third F#, the seventh C and the thirteenth B, and leave out the fifth, the ninth and above all the eleventh G, 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.
D13 on the piano
Root position from D4: D4, F#4, A4, C5, E5, G5, B5. Middle C is C4.
D13 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 D as its lowest note.
x 5 x 5 7 7 (low E to high e)
Sounds D3 C4 F#4 B4, fifth, ninth and eleventh left out
10 x 10 11 12 x (low E to high e)
Sounds D3 C4 F#4 B4, 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 D13
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 | D F# A C E G B | D13 | |
| 1st inversion | F# A C E G B D | D13/F# | |
| 2nd inversion | A C E G B D F# | Am13 (also read as D13/A) | |
| 3rd inversion | C E G B D F# A | D13/C | |
| 4th inversion | E G B D F# A C | D13/E | |
| 5th inversion | G B D F# A C E | D13/G | |
| 6th inversion | B D F# A C E G | D13/B |
Where D13 fits
D13 is V13 in G major. Played with its third, seventh and thirteenth (F#, C, B) over the root, it is the standard dominant chord of jazz and soul, resolving to G.