A13 guitar chord
Root, third and seventh: the guide tones fix the quality, so the fifth is dropped. That is what leaves a string free, so pick a tension to put on top.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About A13 — shell voicings
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
Root, third and seventh. The third and seventh, the guide tones, are what make the chord major, minor or dominant, so the fifth can go: it says nothing the symbol needs.
Three notes means a spare string, which is the real point. Put a tension on it.
A13 has 4 of them, on the middle four strings, strings 5-3-2-1 and strings 6-4-3-2, from the 2nd fret up to the 12th — all in one inversion, so the bass note never moves. The one to learn first is the A shape at the 5th fret, which is the easiest grip here.
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 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.