Thirteenth
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Template:Infobox musical interval
Template:Infobox musical interval
In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The thirteenth is most commonly major Template:Audio or minor Template:Audio.
A thirteenth chord is the stacking of six (major or minor) thirds, the last being above the 11th of an eleventh chord.Template:Sfn Thus a thirteenth chord is a tertian (built from thirds) chord containing the interval of a thirteenth, and is an extended chord if it includes the ninth and/or the eleventh. "The jazzy thirteenth is a very versatile chord and is used in many genres."Template:Sfn Since 13th chords tend to become unclear or confused with other chords when inverted, they are generally found in root position.Template:Sfn For example, depending on voicing, a major triad with an added major sixth is usually called a sixth chord Template:Audio, because the sixth serves as a substitution for the major seventh, thus considered a chord tone in such context.
However, Walter Piston, writing in 1952, considered that, "a true thirteenth chord, arrived at by superposition of thirds, is a rare phenomenon even in 20th-century music."<ref name="Piston">Template:Cite journal</ref> This may be due to four-part writing, instrument limitations, and voice leading and stylistic considerations. For example, "to make the chord more playable [on guitar], thirteenth chords often omit the fifth and the ninth."Template:Sfn
Dominant thirteenth
Most commonly, 13th chords serve a dominant function (V13),Template:Sfn whether they have the exact intervals of a dominant thirteenth or not. Typically, a dominant chord anticipating a major resolution will feature a natural 13, while a dominant chord anticipating a minor resolution will feature a flat 13.Template:Sfn Since thirteenth chords contain more than four notes, in four-voice writing the root, third, seventh, and thirteenth are most often included,Template:Sfn excluding the fifth, ninth, and eleventh Template:Audio. The third indicates the quality of the chord as major or minor, the seventh is important for the quality as a dominant chord, while the thirteenth is necessary in a thirteenth chord.
In modern pop and jazz harmony, after the dominant thirteenth, a thirteenth chord (usually notated as X13, e.g. C13) contains an implied flatted seventh interval. Thus, a C13 consists of C, E, G, BTemplate:Music, and A. The underlying harmony during a thirteenth chord is usually Mixolydian or Lydian dominant (see chord-scale system). A thirteenth chord does not imply the quality of the ninth or eleventh scale degrees. In general, what gives a thirteenth chord its characteristic sound is the dissonance between the flat seventh and the thirteenth, an interval of a major seventh.
In the common practice period the "most common" pitches present in V13 chord are the root, 3rd, 7th, and 13th; with the 5th, 9th, and 11th "typically omitted".Template:Sfn The 13th is most often in the soprano, or highest voice, and usually resolves down by a 3rd to the tonic I or i. If the V13 is followed by a I9 the 13th may resolve to the 9th.Template:Sfn
Other thirteenth chords
These voice leading guidelines may not be followed after the common practice period in techniques such as parallel harmony and in the following example:
13th chords may less often be built on degrees other than the dominant, such as the tonic or subdominant.Template:Sfn
While the dominant thirteenth is the most common thirteenth chord, the major thirteenth is also fairly common.<ref name="Picture chord">Hal Leonard Corp. (2003). Picture Chord Encyclopedia: Photos, Diagrams and Music Notation for Over 1,600 Keyboard Chords, p.10. Template:ISBN.</ref> A major thirteenth chord (containing a major seventh) will nearly always feature a chromatically raised eleventh (C E G B D FTemplate:Music A) (see Lydian mode), except for cases when the eleventh is omitted altogether. "It is customary to omit the eleventh on dominant or major thirteenth chords because the eleventh conflicts with the third,"<ref name="Picture chord"/> in these chords by a semitone.
Inversions
Generally found in root position,Template:Sfn the inversion of a complete thirteenth chord including all seven notes, itself, "a rare phenomenon",<ref name="Piston"/> is a theoretical impossibility since a new thirteenth chord with a different root is produced, for example Cmaj13 (C-E-G-B-D-F-A) becomes Template:Disputed inline Em13Template:Music9 (E-G-B-D-F-A-C) then G13 (G-B-D-F-A-C-E), and so on, when inverted.Template:Sfn
Gallery
Given the number of notes that may be included, there are a great variety of thirteenth chords. The following chords are notated below lead sheet symbols:
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Thirteenth chord based on minor triad<ref name="K&P">Kostka & Payne (1995). Tonal Harmony, p.493. Third Edition. Template:ISBN.</ref> Template:Audio -
Thirteenth chord with flat ninth<ref name="K&P"/> Template:Audio -
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Bass note: C or alternatively G.<ref>Manus, M. (1978). Piano Chord Dictionary, p.21. Template:ISBN.</ref> Template:Audio -
"Thirteenth chord inversion with no fifth or ninth and the flatted seventh in the bass."Template:Sfn<ref>Hal Leonard Corp. (2004). Guitar Chords Deluxe: Full-Color Photos and Diagrams for Over 1,600 Chords, p.12. Template:ISBN.</ref> Template:Audio -
Different voicing for guitar.Template:Sfn Template:Audio -
Dominant thirteenth: four-voice version. "This disposition is typical."Template:Sfn Template:Audio -
A thirteenth chord "collapsed" into one octave results in a dissonant, seemingly secundal<ref name="Cope, David 2000 p.6"/> tone cluster. Template:Audio -
A dominant thirteenth in F minor. Template:Audio
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