Abm11

Abm11 is Ab, Cb, Eb, Gb, Bb and Db, a minor eleventh. The shape this page opens on is written 424322, lowest string first.

Note by note. Ab is the root, Cb is the minor third, Eb is the fifth, Gb is the flat seventh, Bb is the ninth and Db is the eleventh.

Also written Abmin11, Ab-11 or Ab minor 11. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 7 common shapes for Abm11 on the guitar, and 51 derived voicings in 4 families.

One note away. Change a single note of Abm11 and you have Abm9 (with one note taken away), AbmMaj11 (with one note moved) or Ab11 (with one note taken away).

In which keys. Every note of Abm11 belongs to Eb minor (the iv), F# major (the ii), Ab minor (the i) and B major (the vi).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: 424322, 4x442x, 444446, xx6677, x-11-9-11-9-9, x-11-9-11-11-9, x-11-11-11-12-11.

Under the hand. None of the shapes for Abm11 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 2nd fret. 6 of the 7 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 12th.

Shell. Root, third and seventh: the guide tones fix the quality, so the fifth is dropped. That is what leaves a string free, so pick a tension to put on top. Abm11 has 4x442x, 4246xx, x-11-x-11-12-9, 4996xx, xx6479, x-11-9-11-14-x.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. Abm11 has xx4424, 4444xx, xx6677, 9-11-9-11-x-x, x-x-9-11-9-9, x-11-11-11-12-x, x2412x, x4647x.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. Abm11 has x2x122, 4x442x, x4x474, 7x667x, x9x697, 9-x-9-11-9-x, x-11-x-11-12-9, 14-x-11-13-12-x.

Rootless. The root left to the bass player. Frees a finger for a tension. Abm11 has x2432x, x4444x, xx8677, xx9879, x-x-9-11-11-9, x-13-11-11-12-x, x-x-11-11-12-11, xx1422.

Tensions. A shell of Abm11, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 13 (F).

What kind of chord this is. Abm11 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. minor chords on every root, and what they are for.

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.