D#13 Chord on Guitar
D#13 = D# – G – A# – C# – F – C (Root, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, Minor 7th, Major 9th, Major 13th)
D#13 shares its harmonic destination with D#9 — both resolve to G#(Ab) major as dominant chords — but swaps the color tone on top: where D#9 puts the ninth on the high e string, D#13 instead puts the thirteenth on the B string, one string lower. It's a small fingering change with a real difference in how the chord rings.
The notes are D#, G, A#, C#, and A — root, third, fifth, flat seventh, and thirteenth (the sixth degree, functionally, an octave up). As V13 of Ab major it's the richest, jazziest-sounding version of this dominant family, the kind of voicing that shows up in blues and jazz turnarounds where a plain V7 would feel too plain for the surrounding harmony's sophistication.
Fingerings
Barre (11th fret)
How to Practice It
Three extra fingers are needed, arranged across the A, G, and B strings — notice that the shape is almost identical to D#9's, just with the last note moved down one string, so practicing the two back to back is a good way to feel exactly how that single-string shift changes both the fingering and the resulting color. The B-string note here sits at a lower absolute fret than the high-e note D#9 uses, which some players find marginally easier to reach given how tight the eleventh fret already is.
Common Progressions
- G# – C# – D#13 – G# (I – IV – V13 – I in Ab major)
- D#13 – G# (V13 – I, a jazz-turnaround resolution)
- Fm – D#13 – G# (ii – V13 – I)
- C#7 – D#13 – G# (a chain of dominant-family color chords resolving to I)
FAQ
- How is D#13 different from D#9 in the fingering?
- Both share the same barre and the same note on the A string, but D#9 adds its extra color tone on the high e string while D#13 puts it on the B string instead — a one-string shift that changes the chord from a ninth to a thirteenth.
- Where does D#13 resolve?
- To G#, more commonly spelled Ab major, functioning as the dominant thirteenth pulling toward that key's tonic — the same destination as D#9 and D#7, just with a jazzier color layered on top.
- Why do jazz and blues players favor 13 chords over plain 7 chords?
- The added sixth-degree color (the thirteenth) gives the dominant chord a fuller, more sophisticated sound that fits naturally into the denser harmonic language those styles favor, without changing the chord's basic resolving function.
- Does a full D#13 include every note from the root to the thirteenth?
- In theory, yes, but no six-string guitar voicing stacks all seven possible notes — this practical shape keeps the root, third, seventh, and thirteenth, dropping the ninth and eleventh as the least essential to the chord's core color.
- Is D#13 harder to play than D#9?
- About the same — both need three extra fingers beyond the barre, just arranged slightly differently, so a player comfortable with one should find the other only a small adjustment away.
- Can D#13 substitute for a plain D#7 mid-progression?
- Yes, especially near a cadence — swapping the last dominant chord before a resolution for its 13th-chord version is a common way to add harmonic richness right before landing on the tonic.
- Why is this chord more common in horn-influenced music than typical guitar rock?
- Ab-major harmony, and the rich extended dominants that go with it, are staples of horn-section arranging and jazz-blues writing, contexts where guitarists are more likely to need this exact voicing than in straightforward open-chord rock or folk material.
Related: how chords are built, chord finder.