C#m11

C#m11 is C#, E, G#, B, D# and F#, a minor eleventh. The shape this page opens on is written x42422, lowest string first.

Also written C#min11, C#-11 or C# minor 11. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 7 common shapes for C#m11 on the guitar, and 52 derived voicings in 5 families.

In which keys. Every note of C#m11 belongs to C# minor (the i), E major (the vi), Ab minor (the iv) and B major (the ii).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: x42422, x42442, x44454, 979877, 9x997x, 9-9-9-9-9-11, x-x-11-11-12-12.

Shell. 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. C#m11 has x4x452, 9x997x, 9-7-9-11-x-x, x4247x, x4997x, 9-14-14-11-x-x, x-x-11-9-12-14.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. C#m11 has 2424xx, xx2422, x4445x, xx9979, 9999xx, x-x-11-11-12-12, xx4657, 7746xx.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. C#m11 has 2x242x, x4x452, 7x465x, x7x677, 9x997x, x-9-x-9-12-9, 12-x-11-11-12-x, x-14-x-11-14-12.

Rootless. The root left to the bass player. Frees a finger for a tension. C#m11 has xx2102, xx2442, x6445x, xx4454, x7987x, x9999x, x-x-13-11-12-12, x2x152.

Open string. An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful. C#m11 has xx4300, 0x430x, 0x4600.

Tensions. A shell of C#m11, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 13 (A#).

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.