Lesson 39 · All 12 keys

Dominant 7♭13 Chord Trainer

Learn how a Dominant 7♭13 chord is built one semitone-count at a time — a plain dominant 7th chord (Lesson 13) with a lowered 13th on top — a darker altered-dominant color — then put it to work with three MIDI exercises: playing all 12 Dominant 7♭13 chords around the circle of fourths, and 5 jazz plus 5 gospel chord progressions that show off its color, in every key.

How a Dominant 7♭13 chord is built

A Dominant 7♭13 chord — written 7♭13 (e.g. C7♭13) — is a 5-note chord: a plain dominant 7th chord (Lesson 13) with a lowered 13th on top — a darker altered-dominant color. Every 7♭13 chord — in any of the 12 keys — is built the exact same way, by counting semitones to the right from a root note:

  1. The starting note — this note names the chord.
  2. Count 4 semitones up from the root — the major 3rd.
  3. Count 3 more semitones up from the 3rd (7 semitones from the root) — the perfect 5th.
  4. Count 3 more semitones up from the 5th (10 semitones from the root) — the minor 7th.
  5. Count 10 more semitones up from the 7th (20 semitones from the root — an octave plus a minor 6th) — the ♭13th, a lowered 13th.
Example — E♭7♭13: start on E♭, count 4 semitones right to reach G, 3 more to reach B♭, 3 more to reach D♭, then 10 more to reach B (C♭, an octave and a minor 6th above the root). E♭‑G‑B♭‑D♭‑B is the E♭7♭13 chord.
A ♭13th is the enharmonic twin of a ♯5th — both land on the same key — but the two are used differently: a ♯5 usually appears without a 7th at all (an augmented triad), while a ♭13 is heard specifically as a tension above a complete dominant 7th chord. This altered color is darker and moodier than a plain dominant 7th, and it's especially common paired with a ♭9 for an even more unsettled, minor-leaning pull toward home.

Try it: pick a root and build the chord step by step

Step 1 of 5
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Chord toneNoteSemitones from rootMIDI #

All 12 Dominant 7♭13 chords at a glance

ChordRoot+4 semitones → Major 3rd+3 semitones → Perfect 5th+3 semitones → Minor 7th+10 semitones → ♭13th

This MIDI exercise plays all 12 Dominant 7♭13 chords, one after another, moving around the circle of fourths — each chord's root sits a perfect 4th (5 semitones) above the last one: C → F → B♭ → E♭ → A♭ → D♭ → G♭/F♯ → B → E → A → D → G → back to C. Every chord is played as a full 5-note Dominant 7♭13 chord (root, major 3rd, perfect 5th, minor 7th, ♭13th together).

Chord 1 of 12
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The 12 chords, in circle-of-fourths order

#ChordRootMajor 3rdPerfect 5thMinor 7th♭13th

Five jazz chord progressions built around the Dominant 7♭13 chord. Pick a progression and play it in one key or cycle through all 12.

Key of C
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Progression in C

DegreeChordNotes

Five gospel chord progressions built around the Dominant 7♭13 chord. Pick a progression and play it in one key or cycle through all 12.

Key of C
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Progression in C

DegreeChordNotes