F#13 F# dominant thirteenth chord
- Notes
- F# A# C# E G# B D#
- Formula
- 1 3 5 b7 9 11 13
- Semitones
- 0 4 7 10 14 17 21 above the root
- Also written
- Gb13 (Gb Bb Db Fb Ab Cb Eb)
- Other symbols
- F#dom13
F# to A# is a major third (4 semitones), A# to C# is a minor third (3 semitones), C# to E is a minor third (3 semitones), E to G# is a major third (4 semitones), G# to B is a minor third (3 semitones), B to D# is a major third (4 semitones). A dominant seventh with the thirteenth, D#, on top. The full chord has seven notes and a guitar has six strings, so players keep the root, the third A#, the seventh E and the thirteenth D#, and leave out the fifth, the ninth and above all the eleventh B, 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.
F#13 on the piano
Root position from F#4: F#4, A#4, C#5, E5, G#5, B5, D#6. Middle C is C4.
F#13 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 F# as its lowest note.
2 x 2 3 4 x (low E to high e)
Sounds F#2 E3 A#3 D#4, fifth, ninth and eleventh left out
x 9 x 9 11 11 (low E to high e)
Sounds F#3 E4 A#4 D#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 F#13
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 | F# A# C# E G# B D# | F#13 | |
| 1st inversion | A# C# E G# B D# F# | F#13/A# | |
| 2nd inversion | C# E G# B D# F# A# | C#m13 (also read as F#13/C#) | |
| 3rd inversion | E G# B D# F# A# C# | F#13/E | |
| 4th inversion | G# B D# F# A# C# E | F#13/G# | |
| 5th inversion | B D# F# A# C# E G# | F#13/B | |
| 6th inversion | D# F# A# C# E G# B | F#13/D# |
Where F#13 fits
F#13 is V13 in B major. Played with its third, seventh and thirteenth (A#, E, D#) over the root, it is the standard dominant chord of jazz and soul, resolving to B.