Dmaj11 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 Dmaj11 — shell voicings
Dmaj11 is D, F#, A, C#, E and G — Dmaj9 with the eleventh added — the note that fights the major third.
It sounds unsettled, and grittier than the rest of the major family. Most players drop the third or raise the eleventh instead, which is how you arrive at a sus chord or at maj7♯11.
Dmaj11 notes and formula
| D | F# | A | C# | E | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 11 |
Tonic, awkwardly — the eleventh sits a semitone above the third.
Also written DM11, DΔ11 or D major 11. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Dmaj11
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.
Dmaj11 has 6 of them, on strings 5-3-2-1, the top four strings, the middle four strings, strings 6-4-3-2 and the bottom four strings, from the 3rd fret up to the 11th — all in one inversion, so the bass note never moves. The one to learn first is the D shape at the 3rd fret.
Start with xx0022 — no barre and 2 open strings. 1 of the 8 shapes here sits in open position. 3 of the 8 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| xx0022 | open position | D, root position | F# | 2 open strings |
| x54633 | 3rd fret | D, root position | G | all fretted |
| x55675 | 5th fret | D, root position | A | barred |
| x90789 | 7th fret | F#, 1st inversion | C# | 1 open string |
| 10-9-x-x-8-9 | 8th fret | D, root position | C# | all fretted |
| 10-10-11-11-10-10 | 10th fret | D, root position | D | barred |
| 10-10-11-11-10-12 | 10th fret | D, root position | E | barred |
| x-x-12-12-14-14 | 12th fret | D, root position | F# | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 13 drop 2, 9 drop 3, 26 rootless and 6 open string voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of Dmaj11, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 13 (B).
How to use Dmaj11
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Dmaj11 is Em7 to A7 — the ii and the V of D — and A7 shares its third and seventh with Em7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of Dmaj11 belongs to D major (the I, the tonic) and B minor (the ♭III).
What to play over Dmaj11
Every note of Dmaj11 is in D major.
Chords near Dmaj11
Change one note of Dmaj11 and you have Dmaj9 (drop the fourth), Dmaj13 (the fourth becomes a sixth) or DmMaj11 (the major third becomes a minor third).
Dmaj11 is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On Dmaj11’s sound and use this page follows Barrie Nettles & Richard Graf, The Chord Scale Theory and Jazz Harmony (Advance Music, 1997). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.