13th Chords
13th chords sit near the top of the extended-chord family. On paper they can look intimidating, but on the piano they become much easier when you stop thinking note-by-note and start thinking in voicings, shapes, and upper structures.
How Do You Build a 13th Chord?
A 13th chord continues the same pattern you've already seen with 7th, 9th, and 11th chords.
We simply continue stacking notes until we reach the 13th.
The 13th is actually the same scale note as the 6th, only extended above the octave.
Do You Really Play All Seven Notes?
Usually, no.
The full formula is important because it tells you what the chord theoretically contains. But stacking every note from the root to the 13th isn't usually the most musical or practical way to play it.
The Formula Is Not the Voicing
Knowing the notes in a chord and knowing how to voice that chord are two different skills.
The formula tells you what notes are available. The voicing determines which notes you actually use, where you put them, and how the chord sounds.
A Practical Way to Play a 13th Chord
Here's one of the easiest ways to start thinking about these chords:
Play the root and ♭7 in your left hand, then use a familiar triad in your right hand.
Against a C root, that D major triad gives you: 9 – ♯11 – 13.
So instead of your brain trying to process a huge chord symbol, you can think:
Why Upper Structures Matter So Much
Once you get into extended chords, thinking of every note individually becomes inefficient.
Upper structures allow you to take complicated harmony and organize it into shapes your hands already understand.
Left Hand
Establish the root and important chord tones such as the ♭7.
Right Hand
Think in familiar major or minor triads that provide the extensions and altered colors.
Big Chord Name. Familiar Shapes.
That's one of the secrets behind advanced-sounding harmony. The sound may be complicated, but the individual shapes under your hands don't always have to be.
The Dominant 13th Chord
When you simply see a chord written as C13, it normally refers to a dominant-type chord.
In actual playing, the 5th is often unnecessary and the 11th is frequently changed, omitted, or handled differently because of the way it interacts with the 3rd.
13th Chord Types
There are several kinds of 13th chords. Here are three basic formulas so you can see how they're constructed.
1 – 3 – 5 – 7 – 9 – 11 – 13
1 – 3 – 5 – ♭7 – 9 – 11 – 13
1 – ♭3 – 5 – ♭7 – 9 – 11 – 13
You'll See These a Lot in Jazz
13th chords are especially common in styles such as jazz, along with gospel, R&B, blues, and other genres that use extended harmony.
But here's something really important:
Playing the Chord Isn't the Same as Sounding Jazzy
You can play every correct note in a C13 chord and still not sound anything like a jazz player.
That's because jazz musicians rely heavily on voicings — different ways of arranging, spreading, adding, omitting, and altering notes to create the sound they want.
So learning the basic 13th chord formula is useful, but don't assume that playing it straight from the root upward will automatically give you the sound of the style.
If You Decide to Dig Into Jazz...
Expect to stretch your brain a little.
Jazz harmony can take the familiar chord ideas you already know and rearrange them in ways that may seem strange at first. Notes get omitted. Notes get altered. Chords get spread between the hands. Upper structures get added. The bass player may even be handling the root for you.
Omitted Notes
Not every note in the theoretical chord has to be played.
Altered Notes
9ths, 11ths, and other extensions may be raised or lowered for color.
Different Voicings
The exact same chord symbol can be played many different ways.
Don't Get Too Hung Up on the Formula
It's important to understand how a 13th chord is built.
But once you understand the idea, you don't need to sit at the piano thinking:
The goal is for those formulas to eventually help you recognize shapes, sounds, and relationships.
That's why thinking in upper structures is so useful. The theory may say “extended dominant harmony,” while your hands might simply be thinking: two notes here + a triad there.
Common Dominant 13th Chords
This chart shows the complete theoretical spelling of each dominant 13th chord. Remember: these are the notes available in the harmony, not a command to play all seven notes at once.
| Chord | Root | 3 | 5 | ♭7 | 9 | 11 | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C13 | C | E | G | B♭ | D | F | A |
| D♭13 | D♭ | F | A♭ | C♭ (B) | E♭ | G♭ | B♭ |
| D13 | D | F♯ | A | C | E | G | B |
| E♭13 | E♭ | G | B♭ | D♭ | F | A♭ | C |
| E13 | E | G♯ | B | D | F♯ | A | C♯ |
| F13 | F | A | C | E♭ | G | B♭ | D |
| G♭13 | G♭ | B♭ | D♭ | F♭ (E) | A♭ | C♭ (B) | E♭ |
| G13 | G | B | D | F | A | C | E |
| A♭13 | A♭ | C | E♭ | G♭ | B♭ | D♭ | F |
| A13 | A | C♯ | E | G | B | D | F♯ |
| B♭13 | B♭ | D | F | A♭ | C | E♭ | G |
| B13 | B | D♯ | F♯ | A | C♯ | E | G♯ |
The Big Idea
Know how a 13th chord is built, but don't get trapped trying to play every note in the formula. A great starting point is 1 + ♭7 in the left hand with a familiar upper-structure triad in the right hand. And if you decide to dive into jazz or other styles that use these chords heavily, expect your understanding of harmony to stretch. The chord symbol tells you the harmony. The voicing is what helps create the sound.