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Expanding your Chord Knowledge Pt.5: 11th chords

Robert Mussatti 91 lessons

The next group of chords that we will be looking at are 11th chords.

All an 11th chord is, is just another extension of the major chord. A full 11th chord consists of a root, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th, but if we are going to be playing these on the guitar, we usually eliminate a note, and from what we've learned before, we eliminate the 5th, because the 5th is one of those notes that's not necessary to the harmonic function of a chord.

The first 11th chord we will learn is the Major add11 chord. This chord is like the add9, as we are going to add just one note to the triad, but this time, instead of a 9th, it's going to be the 11th. The form that I will show you on the guitar is the movable version.

This chord is built with the Root (C) on the low E string, the Root again on the D string, the 3rd (E) on the G string and the 11th (F) on the B string.

The next 11th chord that we are going to build is a minor 11th chord. This chord is built with the Root (C) on the A string, the minor 3rd (Eb) on the D string, the minor 7th (Bb) on the G string, the 9th (D) on the B string and the 11th (F) on the high E string.

Another minor 11th chord contains the 3rd and the 4th. Normally in an 11th chord, the 11th is located an octave above the third. Because of the separation of the 2 main notes and the presence of the necessary notes, we can call this form an 11th. This form is built with the root on the A string, the 4th(11th) on the D string, the minor 7th on the G string, the Minor 3rd on the B string and the perfect 5th on the high E string.

The next 11th chord we are going to learn is the dominant 11th. This one is built as the same as the first minor 11th chord we learned, except the minor 3rd is moved up a fret to a Major 3rd. The way you play this is when barring with your first finger, tilt the top of your finger sideways to be able to accommodate the 11th on the high E string and the major 3rd on the D string.

A Major 11th chord will sound strange to most people and is rairly used. If a form of major 11th is played, it usually has a raised 11th, such as a C major 9#11. This one is built with the root on the A string, the major 3rd on the D string, the major 7th on the G string, the major 9th on the B string and the sharp 11h on the high E string.

The next chords we will go over next are the 6th chords.

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