D♭ / C♯ thirteenth
How to play D♭13 — Thirteenth
D♭13 (Thirteenth)D♭ · F · A♭ · C♭ · E♭ · B♭
Guitar samples: Acoustic guitar — University of Iowa (via tonejs-instruments, CC-BY 3.0)
D♭ / C♯ thirteenth — notes and structure
The D♭13 chord extends the dominant family up to the thirteenth — rich and funky.
The D♭13 thirteenth consists of the notes D♭, F, A♭, C♭, E♭, B♭. Its interval structure is R–3–5–7–9–13 — the root, then each chord tone stacked above it. This is the same chord you see in the interactive finder above, drawn on the guitar fretboard with the root circled and every chord tone labelled.
D♭13 stacks a major third (F), a perfect fifth (A♭), a minor seventh (C♭), a ninth (E♭) and a thirteenth (B♭) above the root D♭.
The finder shows 2 ways to play D♭13 — movable shapes higher up the neck reaching up to the 9th fret. They use a barre.
What key is D♭13 in?
Every note of D♭13 belongs to the scales below, so the chord sounds at home in each of these keys — the roman numeral is the degree it sits on.
- F♯ major — the V chord
- D♯ minor — the VII chord
Chords that go with D♭13
In F♯ major, the chords built on the first, fourth and fifth degrees carry most songs — put D♭13 next to these:
Frequently asked questions
- What notes are in the D♭ / C♯ thirteenth chord?
- The D♭13 chord contains the notes D♭, F, A♭, C♭, E♭, B♭. It extends the dominant family up to the thirteenth — rich and funky.
- How many ways can you play D♭13 on guitar?
- 2 voicings are shown on this page — movable shapes up the neck — each with its own fingering diagram and audio.
- Is D♭13 a hard chord to play?
- It is a movable shape played higher up the neck rather than in open position, so it takes a little more hand strength.
- What key does D♭13 belong to?
- D♭13 fits F♯ major (where it is the V chord), D♯ minor (where it is the VII chord) — every note of the chord is in those scales.