Eb11

Eb11 is Eb, Bb, Db, F and Ab, a dominant eleventh. The shape this page opens on is written 111123, lowest string first.

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

Also written Eb9sus4 or Eb dominant 11. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 5 common shapes for Eb11 on the guitar, and 56 derived voicings in 3 families.

One note away. Change a single note of Eb11 and you have Ebsus2sus4 (with one note taken away), Ebm9 (with one note moved), Ebm11 (with one note added), Eb7sus4 (with one note taken away) or Eb9 (with one note moved).

In which keys. Every note of Eb11 belongs to C# major (the ii), Eb minor (the i), F minor (the ♭VII), F# major (the vi), Ab major (the V) and Bb minor (the iv).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: 111123, x65644, x66686, x-10-8-8-9-9, 11-11-11-12-11-11.

Under the hand. None of the shapes for Eb11 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 1st fret. 3 of the 5 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 12th.

Where it goes. Eb11 is the V of Ab, 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 Ab.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. Eb11 has xx1121, x1112x, xx6646, x6666x, 6666xx, xx8899, x-x-11-10-9-11, 11-11-11-10-x-x.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. Eb11 has 1x112x, x4x141, 4x132x, 4x364x, x4x344, x6x664, 6x664x, 9x686x.

Rootless. The root left to the bass player. Frees a finger for a tension. Eb11 has x1312x, xx3324, xx6666, x-x-8-10-9-9, x-11-11-10-11-x, x-x-11-13-11-13, x-13-15-13-14-x, x1x121.

What kind of chord this is. Eb11 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.