E Minor 13th (Em13)

1+b3+5+b7+9+11+13
EGBDAF#C#
4 4
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Notes in E Minor 13th

E (root)GBDF#AC#

Inversions

Same notes as E Minor 13th, with a different chord tone as the lowest note. Useful for smoother movement between chords instead of jumping around the keyboard.

Root position

E in the bass

EGBDAF#C#

1st inversion

G in the bass

GBDAEF#C#

2nd inversion

B in the bass

BDAEGF#C#

3rd inversion

D in the bass

DAEGBF#C#

4th inversion

F# in the bass

AEGBDF#C#

5th inversion

A in the bass

AEGBDC#F#

6th inversion

C# in the bass

EGBDAC#F#

Open voicings

A close-position chord like E Minor 13th can sound cluttered in the middle of the keyboard. Jazz players open it up by dropping one note down an octave, spreading the same notes wider without changing the chord.

Drop 2

E on the bottom

EGABDF#C#

Drop 3

E on the bottom

EGBDAF#C#

E Minor 13th is built from E, G, B, D, F#, A and C#.

A minor eleventh chord extended to the thirteenth, dense and colorful on paper and almost always played with a few of the middle notes thinned out. What's left has a lush, cinematic quality that turns up in jazz ballads and film scoring whenever a minor chord needs real depth.

Difficulty: Advanced. Category: Extended chords. Click any key on the diagram above to hear that single note.