Bb11

Bb11 is Bb, F, Ab, C and Eb, a dominant eleventh. The shape this page opens on is written x11131, lowest string first.

Note by note. Bb is the root, F is the fifth, Ab is the flat seventh, C is the ninth and Eb is the eleventh.

Also written Bb9sus4 or Bb dominant 11. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 7 common shapes for Bb11 on the guitar, and 54 derived voicings in 3 families.

One note away. Change a single note of Bb11 and you have Bbsus2sus4 (with one note taken away), Bbm9 (with one note moved), Bbm11 (with one note added), Bb7sus4 (with one note taken away) or Bb9 (with one note moved).

In which keys. Every note of Bb11 belongs to C minor (the ♭VII), C# major (the vi), Eb major (the V), F minor (the iv), Ab major (the ii) and Bb minor (the i).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: x11131, x53344, 650544, 666766, 8-8-8-8-9-10, x-13-12-13-11-11, x-13-13-13-15-13.

Under the hand. 1 of the 7 shapes here sits in open position, and the first uses 1 open string. 4 of the 7 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.

Where it goes. Bb11 is the V of Eb, and that is where it goes if it goes anywhere: the third and the flat seventh are a tritone apart, and both resolve by a semitone into Eb.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. Bb11 has x1111x, 1111xx, xx3344, xx6546, 6665xx, 6868xx, xx6866, xx8898.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. Bb11 has 4x131x, x1x141, x3x344, x6x364, 4x334x, 6x654x, x6x596, 6x686x.

Rootless. The root left to the bass player. Frees a finger for a tension. Bb11 has xx1111, xx3544, x6656x, xx6868, x-8-10-8-9-x, x-x-10-10-9-11, x-x-13-13-13-13, x3314x.

What kind of chord this is. Bb11 is a dominant chord — root, major third, fifth, minor seventh. dominant seventh 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.