On the bass, the C13 chord is the dominant 13th chord built from C, E, G, A#, D, F, A. On bass it is outlined with the arpeggio C, G, C, E — root, 5th, root, 3rd. Keep this page open while you practise: it lists the notes, every practical voicing, the mistakes that make it sound wrong and the progressions where it does its best work.
What notes are in the C13 chord?
The C13 chord is a dominant 13th chord, and its notes are fixed: C, E, G, A#, D, F, A. Every voicing on every instrument uses these same notes, in some order and in some octave — change one of them and you are playing a different chord. The table below lists each note with its interval from the root C, so you can see the structure of C13 at a glance. On the bass, C13 is the arpeggio C, G, C, E — root, 5th, root, 3rd — and that order is the shape to learn.
| Note | Interval |
|---|---|
| C | Root |
| E | 3 |
| G | 5 |
| A# | b7 |
| D | 9 |
| F | 11 |
| A | 13 |
The root is C, the note the chord is named after and the note your ear hears as home. Above it, the intervals in C13 are 3, 5, b7, 9, 11, 13. That combination is what makes C13 sound the way it does: the intervals decide the colour, and the root decides the pitch. On the bass, the notes appear in the order the fingering dictates, but the set of notes never changes.
C13 sounds warm and jazzy, the sound of a dominant chord with every colour note stacked on top. The colour is strongest when all the notes ring clearly. A muted chord tone, especially the 3rd or the 7th where the chord has one, flattens the character of C13 noticeably. On the bass, play C, G, C, E and hear how the arpeggio spells out C13 without ever playing it as a block.
Comparing C13 with its closest relatives helps to fix it in your ear. In short, 13th against 11th: C13 adds the 13th A on top of the 11th chord. It is the fullest dominant extension, and in practice several notes are omitted. Hearing the comparison matters more than reading it: play C13, then play the chord it is compared with above, and let your ear find the note that changed. On the bass, C13 is the arpeggio C, G, C, E — root, 5th, root, 3rd — and that order is the shape to learn.
How to play C13 on bass
On the bass, C13 is not played as a full chord shape the way it is on guitar or piano. Instead you outline it with an arpeggio: the notes C, G, C, E, which are the chord tones of C13 in the order root, 5th, root, 3rd. That pattern is the working shape for this chord on bass, and it tells the listener exactly which chord is sounding, even though you never play all the notes at once.
Practise the arpeggio of C13 by playing C on beat one, G on beat two, C on beat three and E on beat four, one note per beat, letting each note ring for its full value. Then play it backwards — E, C, G, C — so your fingers learn the shape in both directions. The root C is the anchor: it is the note the rest of the band listens for, so land on it cleanly and on time, and let the 5th G and the 3rd E colour the bar without pulling attention away from the root.
Once the straight arpeggio of C13 is comfortable, try playing just the root C and the 5th G for a whole bar, then add the 3rd E on the last beat as a passing colour. That root-and-5th skeleton is how most bass lines outline C13 in a real song, and the full arpeggio is the version you use when the arrangement has space for it. Check the notes with the Bass Chord Finder and the Chord Finder, and practise the arpeggio against a slow metronome so the notes land exactly on the beat.
Common mistakes
These are the mistakes that most often make C13 sound wrong on the bass, and each one has a concrete fix. Work through them one at a time rather than trying to fix everything at once.
Using it everywhere. C13 is a special-occasion chord. Save it for turnarounds and final dominants, where its richness earns its place. On the bass, play C, G, C, E and hear how the arpeggio spells out C13 without ever playing it as a block.
Playing the arpeggio as a chord. Strumming all the notes of C13 at once on bass sounds muddy and hides the root. Play the arpeggio one note at a time, let each note ring, and keep the root C as the note the listener hears first. On the bass, the arpeggio C, G, C, E outlines C13 one note at a time.
Trying to play all seven notes. Seven notes cannot fit in most voicings. Keep the root, 3rd, 7th and 13th, and drop the 5th, 9th and 11th as needed. On the bass, C13 is the arpeggio C, G, C, E — root, 5th, root, 3rd — and that order is the shape to learn.
Playing the 11th and 3rd together. As in the 11th chord, E and F clash. Omit one of them. On the bass, the arpeggio C, G, C, E outlines C13 one note at a time.
Where C13 is used
C13 is not a diatonic triad in any major or minor key, because it is an extended or altered chord, but its base triad belongs to the key of C major, the key of F major, the key of G major. a chord for open, spread voicings — it needs space for all its notes. As a dominant-type chord it also points toward F major, the key a perfect fourth above C, which is the tonic it most often resolves to. That is where C13 does its work: not as a home chord, but as a chord that creates movement and then resolves. On the bass, C13 is the arpeggio C, G, C, E — root, 5th, root, 3rd — and that order is the shape to learn.
Because C13 is an extended or altered chord, it appears in progressions as a colour or a dominant rather than as a diatonic staple. Try it in place of the plain C triad in a progression you already know, and listen to how the extra notes change the feel — that substitution is the usual way extended chords enter real music. The Chord Progression Builder lets you try C13 in a progression in any key and hear how it connects to the chords around it. On the bass, C13 is the arpeggio C, G, C, E — root, 5th, root, 3rd — and that order is the shape to learn.
The same chord on other instruments is covered in C13 on guitar, C13 on piano, C13 on ukulele, and the scales that fit over it are the C major scale and the C minor pentatonic scale. Learning C13 on the bass and then checking it on another instrument is one of the best ways to fix the notes — C, E, G, A#, D, F, A — in your memory, because the notes stay the same while everything else changes.
Practising C13
A short worked example makes C13 concrete. Play the four-chord progression F – C – Dm – A# in F major, the key C13 most often resolves toward: F – C – Dm – A#. Play each chord for one bar at a slow tempo, and listen to how C13 sounds in that sequence — whether it feels like home, like a lift, or like a chord on its way somewhere else. Then play the same four chords in a different order, starting on C13 itself, and notice how its character changes when it opens the progression instead of sitting inside it. On the bass, play C, G, C, E and hear how the arpeggio spells out C13 without ever playing it as a block.
For a second exercise, play C13 and then the chord a fourth above C, back and forth, four times each. That move — a chord and the chord a fourth above it — is the most common resolution in Western music, and it is the move C13 is built for when it acts as a dominant. Finish by playing C13 on its own, slowly, and naming each note out loud as you play it: C, E, G, A#, D, F, A. Naming the notes while you play them is what turns a shape into knowledge you can use in any key. Test yourself with the Practice Chord Quiz and keep time with the Metronome as the tempo rises. On the bass, the arpeggio C, G, C, E outlines C13 one note at a time.
Frequently asked questions
What notes are in C13?
C13 contains C, E, G, A#, D, F, A: root, major 3rd, perfect 5th, flattened 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th. In real voicings several notes are omitted — the essential ones are the root, 3rd, 7th and 13th. On the bass, check the arpeggio above for that note.
Which notes can I drop from C13?
The 5th (G) first, then the 9th (D) and the 11th (F). The root, 3rd (E), 7th (A#) and 13th (A) define the chord. On the bass, check the arpeggio above for that note.
Where is C13 used?
C13 is a V13 chord in jazz, used as the richest dominant before a resolution to the tonic. It appears in jazz standards, turnarounds and final cadences. On the bass, check the arpeggio above for that note.
How do you play C13 on the bass?
Outline it with the arpeggio C, G, C, E: root, 5th, root, 3rd. Play one note per beat, with the root C on beat one, and let each note ring. That arpeggio tells the listener exactly which chord is sounding, even though you never play all the notes of C13 at once.
What notes are in the C13 bass arpeggio?
The arpeggio is C, G, C, E. It starts on the root C, moves to the 5th G, returns to the root C and finishes on the 3rd E. Those four notes are the chord tones of C13, and playing them in that order is the standard way to outline the chord on bass.