Chords
Ab Minor eleventh
Ab · Cb · Eb · Gb · Bb · Db
The minor eleventh — a m9 with an eleventh added. No clash, because the third is already minor.
Also written Ab-11
Ab Minor eleventh
Ab · Cb · Eb · Gb · Bb · Db
Voicings on the piano
| Voicing | Notes | Play it on your instrument |
|---|---|---|
| Closed, root position | Ab3 · Cb3 · Eb4 · Gb4 · Bb4 · Db5 | |
| Open (drop 2) | Cb3 · Ab3 · Bb3 · Eb4 · Gb4 · Db5 | |
| Shell | Ab3 · Cb3 · Gb4 | |
| Rootless | Cb3 · Gb4 · Bb4 · Db5 |
Tap a key or a fret to hear it.
Anatomy
Ab Minor eleventh (Abm11) contains the notes Ab · Cb · Eb · Gb · Bb · Db, each with a role measured as an interval from the root.
Read on: how triads are built · seventh chords · extensions
Inversions
An inversion of Ab Minor eleventh puts a chord tone other than Ab in the bass; the name after the slash is that bass note.
Where it lives
The keys and the scales Ab Minor eleventh belongs to.
In which keys
Ab Minor eleventh is diatonic to 4 keys; the numeral is its degree and the label its harmonic function.
Extensions beyond the seventh count when every note sits in the key.
Scales that contain it
Ab Minor eleventh fits inside these scales, each built on Ab.
- Ab MinorAb · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · Fb · Gb
- Ab DorianAb · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · F · Gb
- Ab Bebop MinorAb · Bb · Cb · C · Db · Eb · F · Gb
- Ab Minor BebopAb · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · Fb · Gb · G
Understanding the Ab Minor eleventh chord
Names and symbols
Abm11 is the chord symbol for Ab Minor eleventh; it is also written Ab-11.
Ab Minor eleventh and G# Minor eleventh are the same sound spelled two ways; both have a page here, and each links to the other. G# Minor eleventh
How it is built
On Ab it is Ab · Cb · Eb · Gb · Bb · Db, stacking 1P · 3m · 5P · 7m · 9M · 11P. Unlike the major-quality eleventh, nothing here collides: the eleventh sits a whole tone above the minor third rather than a semitone above a major one.
How it is used
It is a modal jazz staple and a fixture of quartal piano voicings. Because it stacks cleanly it can be voiced as a pile of fourths, which is the McCoy Tyner sound.
Learn this properly
Chapter 10: Chords: Triads and SeventhsCommon questions
- What notes are in Abm11?
- Abm11 contains Ab · Cb · Eb · Gb · Bb · Db. Name any set of notes with the chord identifier.
- Why does an eleventh work on a minor chord but not a major one?
- Against a minor third the eleventh is a whole tone away. Against a major third it is a semitone away, which clashes.
- How is m11 usually voiced?
- Often as stacked fourths, dropping the fifth and sometimes the ninth — the quartal voicing associated with modal jazz.
- What notes are in the Ab Minor eleventh chord?
- The Ab Minor eleventh chord contains the notes Ab · Cb · Eb · Gb · Bb · Db: the root Ab with the intervals 1P, 3m, 5P, 7m, 9M, 11P stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally Ab, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.
- What intervals make up the Ab Minor eleventh chord?
- Measured from Ab, the Ab Minor eleventh chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3m, 5P, 7m, 9M, 11P. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.