G9#11 guitar chord
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About G9#11 — 1st inversion
G9#11 answers a naming puzzle: sounds like a flat fifth, yet the natural fifth remains present. The notes are G, B, D, F, A and C#.
The symbol therefore describes an added raised fourth above , not a fifth that has been replaced. A voicing should make that distinction audible.
Also written G9(#11), G9+11 or G9♯11.
What 1st inversion means
G9#11 in 1st inversion puts B in the bass instead of G, the 3rd of the chord. The notes are the same; what changes is what the bass line does, which is most of why you would reach for it — it lets the lowest voice move by step where the root would have jumped.
One of G9#11’s 6 shapes does this:x-x-9-10-10-9
How to use G9#11
G9#11 is a dominant with its tension raised, so it still points at — harder than a plain seventh does. A plain dominant has two voices a semitone from home; an altered one has four, because every altered tone is also sitting a semitone from a note of C. More voices leaning the same way is all "more tension" means here.
In a phrase:→→
The ii–V–I of C.
Voice by voice, G9#11 → . 3 voices move by a semitone, and one note is common to both chords. Those semitones are what the ear follows; the rest is the chord rearranging itself underneath.
| In G9#11 | Moves | In C |
|---|---|---|
| G, the root | stays where it is | G, the fifth |
| B, the major third | rises a semitone | C, the root |
| D, the fifth | falls a whole tone | C, the root |
| F, the flat seventh | falls a semitone | E, the major third |
| A, the ninth | falls a whole tone | G, the fifth |
| C#, the sharp eleventh | falls a semitone | C, the root |
What to play over G9#11
Useful scales
- +E
Adds thirteenth, for a dominant sharp-eleventh color.
Chords near G9#11
Change one note
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.