C#9#11 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.
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About C#9#11 — shell voicings
C#9#11 is C#, E#, G#, B, D# and G — C#9 with the raised eleventh added on top.
It sounds wide and glassy, bright rather than tense. The ♯11 clears the major third by a whole step, so it adds height without the collision a natural eleventh makes.
C#9#11 notes and formula
| C# | E# | G# | B | D# | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | ♭7 | 9 | ♯11 |
Dominant — the lydian dominant sound.
Also written C#9(#11), C#9+11 or C#9♯11. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play C#9#11
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.
C#9#11 has 8 of them, on the middle four strings, the bottom four strings, the top four strings, strings 5-3-2-1 and strings 6-4-3-2, from the 3rd fret up to the 10th — all in one inversion, so the bass note never moves. The one to learn first is the C# shape at the 3rd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with x4546x — no barre and low, at the 4th fret. None of the shapes for C#9#11 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 3rd fret. 3 of the 6 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 3rd fret to the 13th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x43443 | 3rd fret | C#, root position | G | barred |
| x4546x | 4th fret | C#, root position | E# | all fretted |
| 989889 | 8th fret | C#, root position | C# | barred |
| 9-x-9-10-8-x | 8th fret | C#, root position | G | all fretted |
| 9-10-9-10-9-9 | 9th fret | C#, root position | C# | barred |
| x-x-11-12-12-13 | 11th fret | C#, root position | E# | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 13 rootless voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of C#9#11, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the b13 (A) and the 13 (A#).
How to use C#9#11
C#9#11 is a dominant with its tension raised, so it still points at F# — harder than a plain seventh does, because the altered tones sit a semitone from where they are going.
Voice by voice, C#9#11 → F#. 3 voices move by a semitone, and one note is common to both chords.
| In C#9#11 | Moves | In F# |
|---|---|---|
| C#, the root | stays where it is | C#, the fifth |
| E#, the major third | rises a semitone | F#, the root |
| G#, the fifth | falls a whole tone | F#, the root |
| B, the flat seventh | falls a semitone | A#, the major third |
| D#, the ninth | falls a whole tone | C#, the fifth |
| G, the sharp eleventh | falls a semitone | F#, the root |
What to play over C#9#11
Every note of C#9#11 is in C# lydian dominant.
Chords near C#9#11
Change one note of C#9#11 and you have C#9 (drop the flat fifth), C#9b5 (drop the fifth) or C#13 (the flat fifth becomes a sixth).
C#9#11 is an altered chord — a dominant seventh with its fifth or ninth moved. Altered dominant chords on every root.
On C#9#11’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.