Dominant 11th Chord (11) on guitar

A dominant 11th chord stacks the ninth and eleventh on a dominant 7th chord, close to a 9sus4 sound.

About the Dominant 11th Chord

C11 is C, E, G, Bb, D and F.

With the 3rd and the 11th both present, it sounds thick. Many players leave out the 3rd, and the chord turns into a 9sus4.

Gospel and soul players use it as a dominant chord before the home chord.

Intervals

• 1: Root, 0 semitones above the root
• 3: Major 3rd, 4 semitones above the root
• 5: Perfect 5th, 7 semitones above the root
• b7: Minor 7th, 10 semitones above the root
• 9: 9th, 14 semitones above the root
• 11: 11th, 17 semitones above the root

Dominant 11th Chord charts in all 12 keys

Each chart shows the strings from the thick low E on the left to the thin high e on the right. Numbers in the dots are fingers: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 little, T thumb. × marks a muted string and ○ an open one. A bar across strings is a barre.

Scales to play over C11

Each of these scales, started on C, holds every note of the chord:

• C Mixolydian Mode
• C Taishikicho
• C Hindu (Mixolydian b6)
• C Bebop Minor (Bebop Dorian)
• C Bebop Dominant

More chord types

• Minor 11th Chord (m11)
• Major 13th Chord (maj13)
• All chord types