A13 guitar chord
The standard grips this chord is usually shown with.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About A13 — 2nd inversion
A13 is A, C#, E, G, B and F# — A9 with the thirteenth added on top.
It sounds big and open. Six notes will not fit under four fingers: the fifth goes first, then the ninth, and the third, flat seventh and thirteenth stay.
A13 notes and formula
| A | C# | E | G | B | F# |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | ♭7 | 9 | 13 |
Dominant — the full V chord.
Also written Adom13 or A dominant 13. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play A13
A13 in 2nd inversion puts E in the bass instead of A, the 5th of the chord. The notes are the same; what changes is what the bass line does, which is most of why you would reach for it — it lets the lowest voice move by step where the root would have jumped.
One of A13’s 9 common shapes does this: 12-12-12-12-14-14.
Start with 544030 — no barre and 2 open strings. 2 of the 9 shapes here sit in open position. 7 of the 9 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x02022 | open position | A, root position | F# | barred |
| 524223 | 2nd fret | A, root position | G | barred |
| 544030 | open position | A, root position | E | 2 open strings |
| 544453 | 3rd fret | A, root position | G | barred |
| 555677 | 5th fret | A, root position | B | barred |
| 575675 | 5th fret | A, root position | A | barred |
| x-12-11-12-14-14 | 11th fret | A, root position | F# | all fretted |
| x-12-11-12-12-14 | 11th fret | A, root position | F# | barred |
| 12-12-12-12-14-14 | 12th fret | E, 2nd inversion | F# | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 4 shell, 12 drop 2, 9 drop 3, 26 rootless and 6 open string voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of A13, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the #11 (D#).
How to use A13
A13 is the V of D, and that is where it goes if it goes anywhere: the third and the flat seventh are a tritone apart, and both resolve by a semitone into D.
Voice by voice, A13 → D. 2 voices move by a semitone, and 2 notes are common to both chords.
| In A13 | Moves | In D |
|---|---|---|
| A, the root | stays where it is | A, the fifth |
| C#, the major third | rises a semitone | D, the root |
| E, the fifth | falls a whole tone | D, the root |
| G, the flat seventh | falls a semitone | F#, the major third |
| B, the ninth | falls a whole tone | A, the fifth |
| F#, the thirteenth | stays where it is | F#, the major third |
In which keys. Every note of A13 belongs to D major (the V, the dominant) and B minor (the ♭VII).
What to play over A13
Every note of A13 is in A mixolydian and A lydian dominant.
Chords near A13
Change one note of A13 and you have Amaj13 (the flat seventh becomes a major seventh), A69 (drop the flat seventh), A9 (drop the sixth) or A9#11 (the sixth becomes a flat fifth).
A13 is a dominant chord — root, major third, fifth, minor seventh. Dominant seventh chords on every root.
On A13’s sound and use this page follows Ted Pease & Ken Pullig, Modern Jazz Voicings (Berklee Press, 2001). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.