Bbm11 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 Bbm11 — shell voicings
Bbm11 is Bb, Db, F, Ab, C and Eb — Bbm9 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.
Bbm11 notes and formula
| Bb | Db | F | Ab | C | Eb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | 5 | ♭7 | 9 | 11 |
Pre-dominant or minor tonic — it hangs rather than moves.
Also written Bbmin11, Bb-11 or Bb minor 11. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Bbm11
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.
Bbm11 has 6 of them, on strings 6-4-3-2, the bottom four strings, strings 5-3-2-1, the middle four strings and the top four strings, from open position up to the 11th — all in one inversion, so the bass note never moves. The one to learn first is the Bb shape at the nut.
Start with xx8899 — no barre. None of the shapes for Bbm11 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 4th fret. 6 of the 7 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 4th fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 646544 | 4th fret | Bb, root position | Ab | barred |
| 6x664x | 4th fret | Bb, root position | Eb | barred |
| 666668 | 6th fret | Bb, root position | C | barred |
| xx8899 | 8th fret | Bb, root position | Db | all fretted |
| x-13-11-13-11-11 | 11th fret | Bb, root position | Eb | barred |
| x-13-11-13-13-11 | 11th fret | Bb, root position | Eb | barred |
| x-13-13-13-14-13 | 13th fret | Bb, root position | F | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 13 drop 2, 8 drop 3 and 25 rootless voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of Bbm11, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 13 (G).
How to use Bbm11
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Bbm11 is Cm7♭5 to F7♭9: the ii and the V of Bb minor, which is where a minor tonic is usually arrived at rather than simply begun on.
In which keys. Every note of Bbm11 belongs to C# major (the vi, the submediant), F minor (the iv, the subdominant), Ab major (the ii, the supertonic) and Bb minor (the i, the tonic).
What to play over Bbm11
Every note of Bbm11 is in Bb dorian and Bb natural minor.
Chords near Bbm11
Change one note of Bbm11 and you have Bbm9 (drop the fourth), BbmMaj11 (the flat seventh becomes a major seventh) or Bb11 (drop the minor third).
Bbm11 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. Minor chords on every root.
On Bbm11’s sound and use this page follows Mark Levine, The Jazz Theory Book (Sher Music, 1995). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.