Abm11 guitar chord
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.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Abm11 — shell voicings
Abm11 is Ab, Cb, Eb, Gb, Bb and Db — Abm9 with the eleventh added on top.
It sounds spacious and slightly unresolved. The eleventh is a whole step above the minor third, so unlike its major counterpart it fits without a fight.
Pre-dominant or minor tonic — it hangs rather than moves.
Abm11 notes and formula
| Ab | Cb | Eb | Gb | Bb | Db |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | 5 | ♭7 | 9 | 11 |
Also written Abmin11, Ab-11 or Ab minor 11. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Abm11
Root, third and seventh. The third and seventh, the guide tones, are what make the chord major, minor or dominant, so the fifth can go: it says nothing the symbol needs.
Three notes means a spare string, which is the real point. Put a tension on it.
Abm11 has 6 of them, on strings 6-4-3-2, the bottom four strings, strings 5-3-2-1, the top four strings and the middle four strings, from the 2nd fret up to the 9th — all in one inversion, so the bass note never moves. The one to learn first is the Ab shape at the 2nd fret.
Six notes and four fingers, so something has to go. Keep Cb and Gb (they fix the quality) and Db and Bb (what the symbol is about). Let Eb and Ab go, in that order — a perfect fifth says nothing the root has not, and in a band the bass has the root.
Play Abm11 as a shell — root, third and seventh — and the spare string takes the 13 (F).
All 7 common shapes as fret numbers, lowest string first. Hover or tap one to see it drawn.
- 424322, 2nd fret, Ab, root position, top note Gb, barred
- 4x442x, 2nd fret, Ab, root position, top note Db, barred
- 444446, 4th fret, Ab, root position, top note Bb, barred
- xx6677, 6th fret, Ab, root position, top note Cb, all fretted
- x-11-9-11-9-9, 9th fret, Ab, root position, top note Db, barred
- x-11-9-11-11-9, 9th fret, Ab, root position, top note Db, barred
- x-11-11-11-12-11, 11th fret, Ab, root position, top note Eb, barred
How to use Abm11
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Abm11 is Bbm7♭5 to Eb7♭9: the ii and the V of Ab minor, which is where a minor tonic is usually arrived at rather than simply begun on.
In which keys. Every note of Abm11 belongs to Eb minor (the iv, the subdominant), F# major (the ii, the supertonic), Ab minor (the i, the tonic) and B major (the vi, the submediant).
What to play over Abm11
Every note of Abm11 is in Ab dorian and Ab natural minor.
Chords near Abm11
Change one note of Abm11 and you have Abm9 (drop the eleventh), AbmMaj11 (the flat seventh becomes the major seventh) or Ab11 (drop the minor third).
Abm11 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. Minor 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.