B11 guitar chord

Rootless · 11th in bass
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About B11 — rootless voicings

A practical way to hear B11 is as held over the original root. The upper shape supplies the flat seventh, ninth, and : B, F#, A, C# and E.

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 B9sus4 or B dominant 11.

B11 rootless guitar chord diagram: B, F#, A, C#, E, played xx2222
B11 rootless guitar chord voicing: x-x-2-2-2-2.

What is a rootless voicing

Rootless voicing
R35♭79

The bassist has the root, and the guide tones imply it anyway. The freed finger adds a tension. Playing solo, keep the root and drop something else.

How to use B11

1In place of the ii

V in E major

B11 has the notes of the ii over the V’s root, so it can take the ii’s bar: B11, then B9, then E. 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 B11 belongs to C# minor, D major, E major, F# minor, A major and B minor.

What to play over B11

Useful scales

  • +D#G#

    Contains B11 and adds major third and thirteenth.

  • +DG

    Contains B11 and adds minor third and flat thirteenth.

  • +DG#

    Contains B11 and adds minor third and thirteenth.

Every scale

Chords near B11

Change one note

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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