E13 E dominant thirteenth chord
- Notes
- E G# B D F# A C#
- Formula
- 1 3 5 b7 9 11 13
- Semitones
- 0 4 7 10 14 17 21 above the root
- Other symbols
- Edom13
E to G# is a major third (4 semitones), G# to B is a minor third (3 semitones), B to D is a minor third (3 semitones), D to F# is a major third (4 semitones), F# to A is a minor third (3 semitones), A to C# is a major third (4 semitones). A dominant seventh with the thirteenth, C#, on top. The full chord has seven notes and a guitar has six strings, so players keep the root, the third G#, the seventh D and the thirteenth C#, and leave out the fifth, the ninth and above all the eleventh A, 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.
E13 on the piano
Root position from E4: E4, G#4, B4, D5, F#5, A5, C#6. Middle C is C4.
E13 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 E as its lowest note.
0 x 0 1 2 x (low E to high e)
Sounds E2 D3 G#3 C#4, fifth, ninth and eleventh left out
x 7 x 7 9 9 (low E to high e)
Sounds E3 D4 G#4 C#5, 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 E13
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 | E G# B D F# A C# | E13 | |
| 1st inversion | G# B D F# A C# E | E13/G# | |
| 2nd inversion | B D F# A C# E G# | Bm13 (also read as E13/B) | |
| 3rd inversion | D F# A C# E G# B | E13/D | |
| 4th inversion | F# A C# E G# B D | E13/F# | |
| 5th inversion | A C# E G# B D F# | E13/A | |
| 6th inversion | C# E G# B D F# A | E13/C# |
Where E13 fits
E13 is V13 in A major. Played with its third, seventh and thirteenth (G#, D, C#) over the root, it is the standard dominant chord of jazz and soul, resolving to A.