Lesson 44 · All 12 keys

Minor 13th Chord Trainer

Learn how a Minor 13th chord is built one semitone-count at a time — a minor 11th chord (Lesson 43) with a 13th stacked on top — the fullest stock minor 7th-family chord — then put it to work with three MIDI exercises: playing all 12 minor 13th chords around the circle of fourths, and 5 jazz plus 5 gospel chord progressions that show off its color, in every key.

How a Minor 13th chord is built

A Minor 13th chord — written m13 (e.g. Cm13) — is a 7-note chord: a minor 11th chord (Lesson 43) with a 13th stacked on top — the fullest stock minor 7th-family chord. Every m13 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 3 semitones up from the root — the minor 3rd.
  3. Count 4 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 4 more semitones up from the 7th (14 semitones from the root) — the 9th.
  6. Count 3 more semitones up from the 9th (17 semitones from the root) — the 11th.
  7. Count 4 more semitones up from the 11th (21 semitones from the root — an octave plus a major 6th) — the 13th.
Example — Cm13: start on C, count 3 semitones right to reach E♭, count 4 semitones more to reach G, count 3 semitones more to reach B♭, count 4 semitones more to reach D, count 3 semitones more to reach F, count 4 semitones more to reach A. C‑E♭‑G‑B♭‑D‑F‑A is the Cm13 chord.
This trainer plays the full 7-note textbook stack, but real players almost always drop the 5th and sometimes the 11th, keeping root, ♭3rd, ♭7th, 9th, and 13th as the essential color tones — exactly how the dominant 13th chord (Lesson 34) is usually voiced too.

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

Step 1 of 7
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Chord toneNoteSemitones from rootMIDI #

All 12 minor 13th chords at a glance

ChordRootMinor 3rdPerfect 5thMinor 7th9th11th13th

This MIDI exercise plays all 12 minor 13th 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 7-note Minor 13th chord (root, minor 3rd, perfect 5th, minor 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th together).

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

#ChordRootMinor 3rdPerfect 5thMinor 7th9th11th13th

Five jazz chord progressions built around the Minor 13th 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 Minor 13th 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