What notes are in the Ab m7add11 chord?

The Ab m7add11 chord contains the notes Ab · Cb · Eb · Gb · Db: the root Ab with the intervals 1P, 3m, 5P, 7m, 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 m7add11 chord?

Measured from Ab, the Ab m7add11 chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3m, 5P, 7m, 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.

How do I play the Ab m7add11 chord?

On guitar the most common Ab m7add11 shape is 444444, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play Ab3 · Cb3 · Eb4 · Gb4 · Db5 with the right hand, or move the root down into the left hand and keep the rest above it. Every shape on this page plays when you press it.

Ab M7add11 Chord (Abm7add11): Notes, Piano & Guitar

Play it on your instrument

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Voicings on the piano

Voicing	Notes	Play it on your instrument
Closed, root position	Ab3 · Cb3 · Eb4 · Gb4 · Db5
Open (drop 2)	Cb3 · Gb3 · Ab3 · Eb4 · Db5
Shell	Ab3 · Cb3 · Gb4
Rootless	Cb3 · Gb4 · Db5

Tap a key or a fret to hear it.

Anatomy

Ab m7add11 (Abm7add11) contains the notes Ab · Cb · Eb · Gb · 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 m7add11 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 m7add11 belongs to.

In which keys

Ab m7add11 is diatonic to 6 keys; the numeral is its degree and the label its harmonic function.

E majoriii7add11Tonic
C# minorv7add11Dominant
B majorvi7add11Tonic
G# minori7add11Tonic
F# majorii7add11Subdominant
D# minoriv7add11Subdominant

Extensions beyond the seventh count when every note sits in the key.

Scales that contain it

Ab m7add11 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
Ab Kafi RagaAb · Cb · C · Db · Eb · F · Gb · G

Related chords

Chords that share most of their notes with Ab m7add11: simpler and richer stacks of the same notes, and the substitutes a chart would accept.

Simpler

Ab7sus4Ab · Db · Eb · Gb
Abm7Ab · Cb · Eb · Gb
Ab4Ab · Db · Gb · Cb
Abmadd4Ab · Cb · Db · Eb
Absus4Ab · Db · Eb
AbmAb · Cb · Eb
Ab5Ab · Eb

Richer

Abm11Ab · Cb · Eb · Gb · Bb · Db

m7add11 on every root

Cm7add11 C#m7add11 Dbm7add11 Dm7add11 D#m7add11 Ebm7add11 Em7add11 Fm7add11 F#m7add11 Gm7add11 G#m7add11 Am7add11 A#m7add11 Bbm7add11 Bm7add11

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Understanding the Ab m7add11 chord

Names and symbols

Abm7add11 is the chord symbol for Ab m7add11; it is also written Abm7add4.

Ab m7add11 and G# m7add11 are the same sound spelled two ways; both have a page here, and each links to the other. G# m7add11

Common questions

What notes are in the Ab m7add11 chord?: The Ab m7add11 chord contains the notes Ab · Cb · Eb · Gb · Db: the root Ab with the intervals 1P, 3m, 5P, 7m, 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 m7add11 chord?: Measured from Ab, the Ab m7add11 chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3m, 5P, 7m, 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.
How do I play the Ab m7add11 chord?: On guitar the most common Ab m7add11 shape is 444444, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play Ab3 · Cb3 · Eb4 · Gb4 · Db5 with the right hand, or move the root down into the left hand and keep the rest above it. Every shape on this page plays when you press it.