Ab11 guitar chord

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About Ab11

A practical way to hear Ab11 is as held over the original root. The upper shape supplies the flat seventh, ninth, and : Ab, Eb, Gb, Bb and Db.

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 Ab9sus4 or Ab dominant 11.

Ab11 guitar chord diagram: Ab, Eb, Gb, Bb, Db, played x-11-11-11-11-x
Ab11 guitar chord voicing: x-11-11-11-11-x.

How to use Ab11

1In place of the ii

V in D♭ major

Ab11 has the notes of the ii over the V’s root, so it can take the ii’s bar: Ab11, then Ab9, then Db. 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 Ab11 belongs to C# major, Eb minor, F# major, Ab minor, Bb minor and B major.

What to play over Ab11

Useful scales

  • +CF

    Contains Ab11 and adds major third and thirteenth.

  • +CbFb

    Contains Ab11 and adds minor third and flat thirteenth.

  • +CbF

    Contains Ab11 and adds minor third and thirteenth.

Every scale

Chords near Ab11

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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