A9#11 guitar chord
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About A9#11 — 1st inversion
A9#11 answers a naming puzzle: sounds like a flat fifth, yet the natural fifth remains present. The notes are A, C#, E, G, B and D#.
The symbol therefore describes an added raised fourth above , not a fifth that has been replaced. A voicing should make that distinction audible.
Also written A9(#11), A9+11 or A9♯11.
What 1st inversion means
A9#11 in 1st inversion puts C# in the bass instead of A, the 3rd of the chord. The notes are the same; what changes is what the bass line does, which is most of why you would reach for it — it lets the lowest voice move by step where the root would have jumped.
One of A9#11’s 7 shapes does this:x-x-11-12-12-11
How to use A9#11
A9#11 is a dominant with its tension raised, so it still points at — harder than a plain seventh does. A plain dominant has two voices a semitone from home; an altered one has four, because every altered tone is also sitting a semitone from a note of D. More voices leaning the same way is all "more tension" means here.
In a phrase:→→
The ii–V–I of D.
Voice by voice, A9#11 → . 3 voices move by a semitone, and one note is common to both chords. Those semitones are what the ear follows; the rest is the chord rearranging itself underneath.
| In A9#11 | Moves | In D |
|---|---|---|
| A, the root | stays where it is | A, the fifth |
| C#, the major third | rises a semitone | D, the root |
| E, the fifth | falls a whole tone | D, the root |
| G, the flat seventh | falls a semitone | F#, the major third |
| B, the ninth | falls a whole tone | A, the fifth |
| D#, the sharp eleventh | falls a semitone | D, the root |
What to play over A9#11
Useful scales
- +F#
Adds thirteenth, for a dominant sharp-eleventh color.
Chords near A9#11
Change one note
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.