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Chord · Reference entry
A Dominant 13th
Dominant 13th · A – C♯ – E – G – B – D – F♯ · intervals P1-M3-P5-m7-M9-P11-M13
The A Dominant 13th chord (A13) contains the notes A, C♯, E, G, B, D, and F♯. Its interval formula is R-M3-P5-m7-M9-P11-M13. A dominant 11th plus the 13th — the fullest dominant voicing, the sound of post-bop jazz comping.
Maintained for accuracy · Last updated July 2026 · How we review
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A13
The A Dominant 13th chord is a seven-note chord made up of A, C♯, E, G, B, D, and F♯. It is built from a root, major third, perfect fifth, minor seventh, major ninth, perfect eleventh, and major thirteenth.
Construction
A Dominant 13th = Root + Major 3rd + Perfect 5th + Minor 7th + Major 2nd + Perfect 4th + Major 6th = A · C♯ · E · G · B · D · F♯
Note
Interval
Degree
A
Root
1
C♯
Major 3rd
3
E
Perfect 5th
5
G
Minor 7th
♭7
B
Major 2nd
9
D
Perfect 4th
11
F♯
Major 6th
13
Key Signature
A dominant chord points home to the key a fifth below its root: the A Dominant 13th is the V (dominant) of D Major, so the relevant key signature is that key’s — 2 sharps (F♯, C♯). Spelled as a scale, these notes are A Mixolydian.
F♯C♯
Order of sharps
Sharps are added to a key signature in a fixed order. Each new sharp key adds the next sharp on the list.
F♯C♯G♯D♯A♯E♯B♯
Mnemonic:Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle
Chords in the Key of D Major
These are the triads built on each degree of the D major scale:
The notes A – C♯ – E – G – B – D – F♯ aren’t exclusive to this chord. Depending on which note is the bass and how the chord functions, the same pitches also spell the following:
Keep going with the Dominant 13th chord — these pages cover the underlying theory, the connected reference material, and the practice tools that work with this chord.
The note names, intervals, fingering, and harmony on this chord page are grounded in the following sources. Public domain treatises and scores are linked to their full text; primary data is piano.org's own interval-derived reference dataset — continuously maintained and human-verified, with no fixed publication date.