Gm11 guitar chord
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.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Gm11 — open string voicings
Gm11 is G, Bb, D, F, A and C — Gm9 with the eleventh added on top.
It sounds spacious and slightly unresolved. The eleventh is a whole step above the minor third, so unlike its major counterpart it fits without a fight.
Gm11 notes and formula
| G | Bb | D | F | A | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | 5 | ♭7 | 9 | 11 |
Pre-dominant or minor tonic — it hangs rather than moves.
Also written Gmin11, G-11 or G minor 11. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Gm11
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. It costs no finger, so it can sound a note the closed shape has none left for: a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath.
These belong to their key rather than to a shape: they cannot be moved up the neck. D, A, G and E have many; E♭ has a handful.
Gm11 has 3 of them, on strings 5-4-3-2-1 and strings 6-4-3-2-1, from the 3rd fret up to the 5th — every inversion the chord has: Bb in the bass, A in the bass and C in the bass. The one to learn first is the C shape at the 3rd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with xx5566 — no barre and low, at the 5th fret. None of the shapes for Gm11 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 1st fret. 7 of the 8 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 313211 | 1st fret | G, root position | F | barred |
| 3x331x | 1st fret | G, root position | C | barred |
| 333335 | 3rd fret | G, root position | A | barred |
| xx5566 | 5th fret | G, root position | Bb | all fretted |
| x-10-8-10-8-8 | 8th fret | G, root position | C | barred |
| x-10-8-10-10-8 | 8th fret | G, root position | C | barred |
| x-10-10-10-11-10 | 10th fret | G, root position | D | barred |
| 15-13-15-14-13-13 | 13th fret | G, root position | F | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 8 shell, 15 drop 2, 10 drop 3 and 25 rootless voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of Gm11, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 13 (E).
How to use Gm11
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Gm11 is Am7♭5 to D7♭9: the ii and the V of G minor, which is where a minor tonic is usually arrived at rather than simply begun on.
In which keys. Every note of Gm11 belongs to D minor (the iv, the subdominant), F major (the ii, the supertonic), G minor (the i, the tonic) and Bb major (the vi, the submediant).
What to play over Gm11
Every note of Gm11 is in G dorian and G natural minor.
Chords near Gm11
Change one note of Gm11 and you have Gm9 (drop the fourth), GmMaj11 (the flat seventh becomes a major seventh) or G11 (drop the minor third).
Gm11 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. Minor chords on every root.
On Gm11’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.