Abmaj7#11 — Ab major seventh sharp eleventh chord

A major seventh chord with the eleventh raised. The sharp eleventh is a tritone above the root, so the chord carries the lydian sound rather than the plain major one.

1 = Ab
3 = C
5 = Eb
7 = G
#11 = D

Symbol: Abmaj7#11
Root: Ab
Quality: Major seventh sharp eleventh
Family: altered
Notes: Ab C Eb G D
Degree formula: 1 3 5 7 #11
Semitones from the root: 0 4 6 7 11
Distinct pitch classes: 5
Interval structure: Stacked from the root: 4 semitones, 3 semitones, 4 semitones, 7 semitones
Notation: Written maj7#11. The tonic chord of the lydian mode, common in jazz and in impressionist harmony.
Key: Ab · Ab major / F minor key signature

Abmaj7#11 chord fingering chart, six strings, frets marked — Abmaj7#11 — fingering chart Diagram: Will Chan

Formula

The chord tones in order from the root, with the interval each one forms above it.

Degree	Note	Semitones	Interval from the root
1	Ab	0	Perfect unison
3	C	4	Major third
5	Eb	7	Perfect fifth
7	G	11	Major seventh
#11	D	6	Tritone

Inversions

An inversion is the same set of notes with a different one in the bass. The last column gives the distance of each note above the bass note, in semitones.

Inversion	Bass note	Degree in the bass	Notes above the bass	Semitones above the bass
root position	Ab	1	Ab – C – Eb – G – D	0 4 7 11 6
first inversion	C	3	C – Eb – G – D – Ab	0 3 7 2 8
second inversion	Eb	5	Eb – G – D – Ab – C	0 4 11 5 9
third inversion	G	7	G – D – Ab – C – Eb	0 7 1 5 8
fourth inversion	D	#11	D – Ab – C – Eb – G	0 6 10 1 5

Inversion

Bass note

Degree in the bass

Notes above the bass

Semitones above the bass

root position

Ab – C – Eb – G – D

0 4 7 11 6

first inversion

C – Eb – G – D – Ab

0 3 7 2 8

second inversion

Eb – G – D – Ab – C

0 4 11 5 9

third inversion

G – D – Ab – C – Eb

0 7 1 5 8

fourth inversion

#11

D – Ab – C – Eb – G

0 6 10 1 5

Playable voicings

These shapes were found by searching the fretboard of a standard-tuned guitar (E A D G B E) rather than copied from a chord book. The search allows every string to sound or to be muted, rejects any shape with a muted string between two sounding strings, rejects any shape whose fretted notes span more than four frets (a five-fret window), requires every chord tone to be present, and then sorts what remains with root-position shapes first and the most compact, lowest shapes next. The shapes shown are the first six of that ordering; other orderings are possible at the same frets.

#	Shape (low string first)	Notes	Degrees	Bass	Span (frets)	Sounding strings
1	4-5-5-5-4-4 (6→1)	Ab D G C Eb Ab	1 #11 7 3 5 1	Ab	1	6
2	4-5-5-5-4-3 (6→1)	Ab D G C Eb G	1 #11 7 3 5 7	Ab	2	6
3	4-3-1-1-3-3 (6→1)	Ab C Eb Ab D G	1 3 5 1 #11 7	Ab	3	6
4	4-6-5-5-3-3 (6→1)	Ab Eb G C D G	1 5 7 3 #11 7	Ab	3	6
5	4-5-6-5-4-3 (6→1)	Ab D Ab C Eb G	1 #11 1 3 5 7	Ab	3	6
6	4-6-5-5-3-4 (6→1)	Ab Eb G C D Ab	1 5 7 3 #11 1	Ab	3	6

Shape numbers run from the lowest string to the highest, so the left-hand number is the sixth string (low E) in standard tuning. Multiple shapes are listed because a chord can be voiced several ways, and because a lower position is not always the better sounding one.

Related chords and scales

KeyEverything in Abscale, chords and neck map for this root
ScaleAb lydianthe scale this chord comes from
ChordAbmaj7the major seventh it extends
ChordAbthe triad underneath it
ChordAb7the seventh chord on this root

Everything in Ab · All chords

KeyKey of AbAb Bb C Db Eb F G · Ab major / F minor
ScaleAb lydian7 notes · 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7
ChordAbmaj7 — Major seventh1 3 5 7 · Ab C Eb G
ChordAb — Major1 3 5 · Ab C Eb
ChordAb7 — Dominant seventh1 3 5 b7 · Ab C Eb Gb
ChordAb7b5 — Dominant seventh flat five1 3 b5 b7 · Ab C Ebb Gb
ChordAb7♭5#9 — Dominant seventh flat fifth sharp ninth1 3 b5 b7 #9 · Ab C Ebb Gb B
ChordAb7♭9 — Dominant seventh flat ninth1 3 5 b7 b9 · Ab C Eb Gb Bbb

Everything in this key: Ab · Chords · Theory Atlas