11th chords
The 11th Chord adds a tone to the 9th chord and, hence the name, this tone is 11 steps from the root. This chord could include seven tones. On the piano you could play the "full version" of his chord with seven tones, but on a guitar only six tones are possible of course. Therefore, at least one tone is always excluded, which can vary depending on the chord shape. See an overview of notes below.
11
C11
D11
E11
F11
G11
A11
B11
Comment
This version of the 11th chord includes the root, the seventh, the ninth and the eleventh whereas the third and the fifth are omitted.
Alternative shape
C11
D11
E11
F11
G11
A11
B11
Comment
This version of the 11th chord includes the root, the third, the seventh and the eleventh whereas the fifth and the ninth are omitted. There is more bass in the sound of this version. F11 and B11 are shown as open chords.
There are also major and minor 11th chords for guitar. The abbreviations for these are maj11 (e.g. Cmaj11) and m11 (e.g. Cm11). The short abbreviation in form of 11 indicates an expanded dominant chord.
Chord construction
C11 C - E - Bb - F - x - xD11 D - F# - C - G - x - x
E11 E - G# - D - A - x - x
F11 F - A - Eb - Bb - x - x
G11 G - Bb - F - C - x - x
A11 A - C# - G - D - x - x
B11 x - B - D# - A - C# - E
Guitar versions of the chord
Notes in chord
C11 C - E - G - Bb - D - FD11 D - F# - A - C - E - G
E11 E - G# - B - D - F# - A
F11 F - A - C - Eb - G - Bb
G11 G - B - D - F - A - C
A11 A - C# - E - G - B - D
B11 B - D# - F# - A - C# - E
The intervals are 1 – 3 – 5 – b7 – 9 – 11
11th barre chords
C11
C#11 / Db11
D11
D#11 / Eb11
E11
F11
F#11 / Gb11
G11
G#11 / Ab11
A11
A#11 / Bb11
B11
Comment
Another way to play this chord group with the bass note on the 5th string is to only include the barre finger. In other words, you could play C11 as X33333, C#11 as X44444 and so on.
More chord shapes
C11
D11
E11
G11
A11
Comment
Above are instructions of how the chord type can be played in other ways, including open positions in some cases.
C11 as pictured above exclude the fifth (hence it could be named C11no5), notice the similarity with the C7-shape. D11 as pictured above exclude the fifth (hence it could be named D11no5). E11 has partly the same shape as D11.
Barre chord shapes
The 11th chord could also be played as a barre chord with this shape:
In this chord shape, the root is there you hold the top of your index finger (the 5th string). You could also choose to bar only the two lowest strings, as in one of the C11 versions presented above.
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