Major 11th Chord (maj11) on guitar

A major 11th chord stacks the ninth and eleventh on a major 7th chord, a rare chord with a clash between the 3rd and 11th.

About the Major 11th Chord

Cmaj11 is C, E, G, B, D and F.

The 11th sits a half step above the 3rd an octave down, so the full chord can sound muddy. Players often raise the 11th instead (maj7#11).

On guitar, play only some of the notes. Six notes rarely fit under the fingers.

Intervals

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

Major 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 Cmaj11

Each of these scales, started on the root of Cmaj11, holds every note of the chord:

• C Major Scale
• C Harmonic Major scale
• C Ichikosucho scale
• C Taishikicho scale
• C Bebop Major scale
• C Bebop Dominant scale
• C Ten Tone Harmonic scale

More chord types

• Minor Major 9th Chord (mMaj9)
• Minor 11th Chord (m11)
• All chord types