Bbmmaj11

BbmMaj11 is Bb, Db, F, A, C and Eb, a minor major eleventh. The shape this page opens on is written x11221, lowest string first.

Note by note. Bb is the root, Db is the minor third, F is the fifth, A is the major seventh, C is the ninth and Eb is the eleventh.

Also written BbmM11 or Bbm(maj11). The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 7 common shapes for BbmMaj11 on the guitar, and 50 derived voicings in 4 families.

One note away. Change a single note of BbmMaj11 and you have Bbmaj11 (with one note moved), Bbm11 (with one note moved) or BbmMaj9 (with one note taken away).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: x11221, x11331, 667668, x-x-8-8-10-9, x-8-8-8-10-9, x-13-11-14-13-11, x-13-13-14-14-13.

Under the hand. None of the shapes for BbmMaj11 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 1st fret. 5 of the 7 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 14th.

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. BbmMaj11 has 6x764x, 6478xx, x-13-x-14-14-11, x-x-8-6-10-11.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. BbmMaj11 has x1122x, 6676xx, x-x-8-8-10-9, x-13-13-14-14-x, xx1325, 5413xx, x4734x, xx7646.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. BbmMaj11 has 5x132x, x4x345, 6x764x, x-6-x-6-10-6, 9-x-8-8-10-x, x-12-x-8-11-9, 11-x-11-14-11-x, x-13-x-14-14-11.

Rootless. The root left to the bass player. Frees a finger for a tension. BbmMaj11 has x3122x, xx1221, x4324x, x6766x, x-x-10-8-10-9, x-x-11-10-10-11, x-15-13-14-14-x, x-x-13-14-14-13.

Tensions. A shell of BbmMaj11, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 13 (G).

What kind of chord this is. BbmMaj11 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.