Emaj11 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
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- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Emaj11 — shell voicings
Emaj11 is E, G#, B, D#, F# and A — Emaj9 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.
Emaj11 notes and formula
| E | G# | B | D# | F# | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 11 |
Tonic, awkwardly — the eleventh sits a semitone above the third.
Also written EM11, EΔ11 or E major 11. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Emaj11
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.
Emaj11 has 6 of them, on the top four strings, the bottom four strings, strings 5-3-2-1, the middle four strings and strings 6-4-3-2, from open position up to the 11th — all in one inversion, so the bass note never moves. The one to learn first is the E shape at the nut.
Start with 001100 — no barre and 4 open strings. 2 of the 9 shapes here sit in open position. 3 of the 9 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001100 | open position | E, root position | E | 4 open strings |
| xx2244 | 2nd fret | E, root position | G# | all fretted |
| 006445 | open position | E, root position | A | 2 open strings |
| x76855 | 5th fret | E, root position | A | all fretted |
| x77897 | 7th fret | E, root position | B | barred |
| 0-11-9-9-10-11 | 9th fret | E, root position | D# | 1 open string |
| 12-11-x-x-10-11 | 10th fret | E, root position | D# | all fretted |
| 12-12-13-13-12-12 | 12th fret | E, root position | E | barred |
| 12-12-13-13-12-14 | 12th fret | E, root position | F# | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 13 drop 2, 8 drop 3, 24 rootless and 2 open string voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of Emaj11, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 13 (C#).
How to use Emaj11
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Emaj11 is F#m7 to B7 — the ii and the V of E — and B7 shares its third and seventh with F#m7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of Emaj11 belongs to C# minor (the ♭III) and E major (the I, the tonic).
What to play over Emaj11
Every note of Emaj11 is in E major.
Chords near Emaj11
Change one note of Emaj11 and you have Emaj9 (drop the fourth), Emaj13 (the fourth becomes a sixth) or EmMaj11 (the major third becomes a minor third).
Emaj11 is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On Emaj11’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.