A11 guitar chord

5 of 6
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About A11 — root position

A practical way to hear A11 is as held over the original root. The upper shape supplies the flat seventh, ninth, and : A, E, G, B and D.

Because that upper shape omits the dominant’s major third, the chord remains suspended. This bass-plus-shape sound is used mainly as V.

Also written A9sus4 or A dominant 11.

A11 root position guitar chord diagram: A, E, G, B, D, played x-12-12-12-12-x
A11 root position guitar chord voicing: x-12-12-12-12-x.

What root position means

A11 in root position puts A in the bass, which is the chord as it is spelled: the note it is named after underneath everything else.

11 of A11’s 15 shapes do this:x00020x024335400035x543x555655x-12-11-12-10-10x-12-x-12-12-10x-12-12-12-10-xx-12-12-12-14-12x-12-12-12-12-xx-12-14-12-15-x

How to use A11

1In place of the ii

V in D major

A11 has the notes of the ii over the V’s root, so it can take the ii’s bar: A11, then A9, then D. The eleventh gives way to the third, and the V resolves as usual.

Compare with

Listen for: The eleventh falls a half step to the third, then rises a half step into the root of the I.

In which keys. Every note of A11 belongs to C major, D major, E minor, G major, A minor and B minor.

What to play over A11

Useful scales

  • +C#F#

    Contains A11 and adds major third and thirteenth.

  • +CF

    Contains A11 and adds minor third and flat thirteenth.

  • +CF#

    Contains A11 and adds minor third and thirteenth.

Every scale

Chords near A11

Change one note

  • D → C

    Replace the eleventh with the minor third.

    See Am9 chord →
  • open strings
    open strings
    D → C#

    Lower the eleventh to the major third.

    See A9 chord →

Add a note

Dominant seventh chords on every root

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.

Midi Settings

7.5
Play Style
One pass of the pick from the lowest string up, everything left ringing.
Instrument
350
150

Style

Shows each chord the way this style would voice it, and marks which of its alternatives belong to the idiom.

Layout

Left Handed Mode