A13 Chord on Guitar
A13 = A – C# – E – G – B – F# (Root, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, Minor 7th, Major 9th, Major 13th)
A13 is the largest extended dominant chord in this family, theoretically stacking a thirteenth on top of a full dominant ninth, but the guitar shape at the fifth-fret barre keeps things practical by dropping the ninth and eleventh entirely. What's left resembles A7 with the sixth string's sixth added on top — a compact way of implying the chord's full jazz color without physically fretting six different pitches.
Full theory gives A, C#, E, G, B, D, F# for A13, but the working voicing here leans on root, third, flat seventh, and thirteenth (F#), the same top note that makes A6 recognizable. That's not a coincidence — a dominant 13th chord is essentially a dominant seventh with a sixth-like note added above it, which is exactly why the two shapes are so closely related on the fretboard. As a V13 it resolves to D major with the same pull as A7, just dressed in a richer, more jazz-inflected color that's common in swing and bossa-influenced guitar parts.
Fingerings
Barre (5th fret)
How to Practice It
Compare this shape directly to A6, since the two voicings share a top note and much of their finger placement — the difference is mainly which string carries the flat seventh instead of a plain triad tone. Practicing the transition from A13 into D major slowly helps train the ear to hear that top F# resolving, even though it isn't moving by step the way a ninth typically would.
Common Progressions
- A13 – D (V13 – I, a jazz-colored dominant resolution)
- Gmaj7 – A13 – Dmaj7 (a ii-less turnaround using extended chords)
- Bm7 – A13 – D (a jazzier ii – V13 – I feel)
- D – A13 – D (I – V13 – I as a static vamp with color)
FAQ
- Why does the guitar voicing of A13 skip the ninth and eleventh?
- Fitting a root, third, seventh, ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth across six strings isn't realistically playable, so guitarists keep the notes that most strongly define the chord's dominant-with-color character — root, third, seventh, and thirteenth — and let the rest go.
- How is A13 related to A6?
- Both put the sixth/thirteenth on top of the chord, and the shapes share much of their fingering; the real difference is that A13 keeps the flat seventh in place of one of A6's triad tones, giving it a dominant rather than plain major color.
- What key does A13 resolve to?
- D major, the same target as A7 or A9, since A13 is still fundamentally a dominant seventh chord with extra top-end color layered on.
- Is A13 mostly a jazz chord?
- It's most at home there, yes — the rich, layered dominant color is a staple of jazz and jazz-adjacent styles like bossa nova and swing, though it does turn up occasionally in more sophisticated pop and R&B writing.
- Why is A13 sometimes confused with A6 on a chart?
- Because both voicings put F# on top and share most of the shape, a player glancing quickly at the neck can mistake one for the other; the seventh (G) buried in the middle of the chord is the note that actually tells them apart.
- Does A13 need a preceding ii chord to sound right?
- Not strictly — it works fine resolving directly from a static vamp or from the tonic itself, but pairing it after a ii chord like Em7 or Bm7 gives it the classic ii-V jazz cadence feel that the extended color is often written to support.
- How difficult is A13 compared to a plain A barre chord?
- It asks for one or two extra fretted notes beyond the basic barre, similar in demand to A9, so it's a reasonable next step once the plain fifth-fret A-major barre is solid.
Related: how chords are built, chord finder.