Eleventh chord
Encyclopedia
In music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, an eleventh chord is a chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
which contains the tertian
Tertian
In music theory, tertian describes any piece, chord, counterpoint etc. constructed from the interval of a third...
extension
Extended chord
In music, extended chords are tertian chords or triads with notes extended, or added, beyond the seventh. Ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth chords are extended chords...
of the eleventh
Eleventh
In music or music theory an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh....
. Typically found in jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, an eleventh chord will also usually include the seventh
Seventh (chord)
In music, the seventh factor of a chord is the note or pitch seven scale degrees above the root or tonal center. When the seventh is the bass note, or lowest note, of the expressed chord, the chord is in third inversion ....
and ninth
Ninth
In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second.Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is a larger than a second, its sonority level is considered less dense.-Major ninth:A major ninth is a...
along with elements of the basic triad
Triad (music)
In music and music theory, a triad is a three-note chord that can be stacked in thirds. Its members, when actually stacked in thirds, from lowest pitched tone to highest, are called:* the Root...
structure. Variants include the dominant eleventh, minor eleventh, and the major eleventh chord. Symbols include: Caug11, C9(aug11), C9(+11), C9alt11, Cmin9(11), C-(9)(11). The eleventh in an eleventh chord is, "almost always sharped, especially in jazz," at least in reference to the third, with CM11 (major eleventh): C-E-G-B-D-F, Cm11 (minor eleventh): C-E-G-B-D-F, and C11 (dominant eleventh): C-E-G-B-D-F.
However, since the major
Major and minor
In Western music, the adjectives major and minor can describe a musical composition, movement, section, scale, key, chord, or interval.Major and minor are frequently referred to in the titles of classical compositions, especially in reference to the key of a piece.-Intervals and chords:With regard...
diatonic
Diatonic and chromatic
Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony...
eleventh would create a dissonant minor ninth
Ninth
In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second.Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is a larger than a second, its sonority level is considered less dense.-Major ninth:A major ninth is a...
interval with the third
Third (chord)
In music, the third factor of a chord is the note or pitch two scale degrees above the root or tonal center. When the third is the bass note, or lowest note, of the expressed triad, the chord is in first inversion ....
of the chord, including the third is a rare phenomenon, even in 20th-century classical music. Though rare, in rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
, the third of the dominant eleventh ("as theoretically conceived": C, E, G, B, D, F ), for example, is usually omitted. It may be notated in charts as, C11, or, more often, "descriptively," as Gm7/C. The fifth is also sometimes omitted, thus turning the chord into a suspended chord
Suspended chord
A suspended chord is a chord in which the third is omitted, replaced usually with either a perfect fourth or a major second , although the fourth is far more common...
.
Examples of its use in rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
include Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
's "Just the Way You Are", Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
and Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
's "Ebony and Ivory
Ebony and Ivory
"Ebony and Ivory" is a 1982 number-one single by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. It was released on March 29 of that year. The song is featured on McCartney's album Tug of War. The song reached number one on both the UK and the U.S. charts...
", and Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
's "Love Takes Time
Love Takes Time
"Love Takes Time" is a song written by Mariah Carey and Ben Margulies, and produced by Walter Afanasieff for Carey's debut album, Mariah Carey . It was released as the album's second single in the third quarter of 1990...
". "Almost always found on the fifth scale degree of a major key," it may, "sometimes be found in a minor key," as in Carole King
Carole King
Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
's "I Feel The Earth Move".
In the dominant eleventh, because this minor ninth interval between the third and the eleventh is more problematic to the ear and to voice leading
Voice leading
In musical composition, voice leading is the term used to refer to a decision-making consideration when arranging voices , namely, how each voice should move in advancing from each chord to the next.- Details :...
than a major ninth would be, alterations to the third or eleventh scale degrees are a common solution. When the third is lowered, a minor eleventh chord is formed with a major ninth interval between the two notes in question (e.g. C, E, G, B, D, F) . Similarly, the eleventh may be raised chromatically over a major triad (e.g. to F in a C major chord) to imply the lydian dominant mode. A less common solution to the issue is to simply omit the third in the presence of the eleventh, resulting in a chord enharmonic to the suspended chord (sus4). This type of chord should be notated as such.
Common practice period
The common practice period, in the history of Western art music , spanning the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods, lasted from c. 1600 to c. 1900.-General characteristics:...
, "the root, 7th, 9th, and 11th are the most common factors present in the V11 chord," with the 3rd and 5th, "typically omitted". The 11th is usually retained as a common tone when the, "V11 resolves to I or i".
The suspended chord derived from the dominant eleventh chord (with the third omitted and the seventh flattened), is particularly useful in diatonic music when a composer or accompanist wishes to allow the tonic
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
note of a key to be heard while also sounding the dominant
Dominant (music)
In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...
of that key in the bass, but while not playing the second inversion of the triad on the tonic. Therefore, something similar to a perfect cadence may be attempted under a melody which does not leave the tonic note (e.g. a perfect cadence in F might require that the melody moves by step from E to F, or from G to F; whereas, if the first of the two notes is harmonized by an eleventh chord, the melody may remain on F, while the bass still plays the typical pattern of a perfect cadence i.e. dominant-tonic). This type of suspended chord also expands the versatility of the dominant pedal
Pedal point
In tonal music, a pedal point is a sustained tone, typically in the bass, during which at least one foreign, i.e., dissonant harmony is sounded in the other parts. A pedal point sometimes functions as a "non-chord tone", placing it in the categories alongside suspensions, retardations, and passing...
compositional technique.
Fourth
Factor (chord)
In music, a factor or chord factor is a member or component of a chord. These are named root, third, fifth, sixth, seventh, ninth, eleventh, thirteenth, and so on, for their generic interval above the root....
of a chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
is the note or pitch
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
four scale degrees above the root
Root (chord)
In music theory, the root of a chord is the note or pitch upon which a triadic chord is built. For example, the root of the major triad C-E-G is C....
or tonal
Tonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
center. When the fourth is the bass note
Bass note
In music theory, the bass note of a chord or sonority is the lowest note played or notated. If there are multiple voices it is the note played or notated in the lowest voice. While the bass note is often the root or fundamental of the chord, it does not have to be, and sometimes one of the other...
, or lowest note, of the expressed chord, the chord is in first inversion . However, this is equivalent to a gapped ninth chord
Ninth chord
A ninth chord is a chord that encompasses the interval of a ninth when arranged in close position with the root in the bass.A dominant ninth is a dominant chord with a ninth. A ninth chord, as an extended chord, typically includes the seventh along with the basic triad structure. Thus, a Cmaj9...
.
Conventionally, the fourth is third in importance to the root, fifth
Fifth (chord)
In music, the fifth factor of a chord is the note or pitch five scale degrees above the root or tonal center. When the fifth is the bass note, or lowest note, of the expressed chord, the chord is in second inversion ....
, and third, being an added tone. It may be avoided as the root since that inversion may resembles a ninth chord on the fourth rather than a suspended chord on the original note. In jazz chords and theory, the fourth is required due to its being an added tone.
The quality
Major and minor
In Western music, the adjectives major and minor can describe a musical composition, movement, section, scale, key, chord, or interval.Major and minor are frequently referred to in the titles of classical compositions, especially in reference to the key of a piece.-Intervals and chords:With regard...
of the fourth may be determined by the scale or may be indicated. For example, in both a major and minor scale a diatonic fourth added to the tonic chord will be major (C-F-G) while one added to the subdominant chord will be major or minor (F-B-C or F-B-C), respectively.
The fourth is octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
equivalent to the eleventh. If one could cut out the note in between the fifth and the eleventh and then drop the eleventh down an octave to a fourth, one would have a fourth chord (CEGBD'F' – BD' = CEFG). The difference between sus4 and add11 is conventionally the absence or presence, respectively, of the third
Third (chord)
In music, the third factor of a chord is the note or pitch two scale degrees above the root or tonal center. When the third is the bass note, or lowest note, of the expressed triad, the chord is in first inversion ....
.