Major 11th
maj11
0 - 4 - 7 - 11 - 14 - 17Major9 + perfect 11th
About Major 11th
A major eleventh chord stacks every odd degree up to the eleventh over a major seventh — in C that is C, E, G, B, D and F, written Cmaj11. On paper it is the tidiest chord in the catalogue; in practice it is almost never played as written, because the F and the E cannot sound together without a collision.
Notes and formula
The formula is 1 – 3 – 5 – 7 – 9 – 11, or 0 – 4 – 7 – 11 – 14 – 17 in semitones. Six notes, half the chromatic scale.
The problem is the same one that afflicts the dominant eleventh, and it is worse here. F sits a semitone above E once the octave is folded away, and the chord also contains B, so the upper structure carries two semitone clashes rather than one.
What is actually played
Two solutions exist and both are common. Drop the third and the chord becomes G minor seventh over a C bass — bright, open, and no longer a major chord in any audible sense. Raise the eleventh instead and it becomes Cmaj9♯11, which keeps the third and is the sound most arrangers actually want.
The second route is so much more common that many charts print maj11 and mean maj9♯11. Reading the symbol literally and voicing all six notes produces a chord nobody asked for.
How to play it
On piano, if the literal chord is required, keep F far above E — root and third low, seventh and ninth in the middle, eleventh at the top — and accept that the chord will sound unresolved.
On guitar the practical answer is a G minor seventh shape over a C bass, or the maj9♯11 voicing x–3–2–4–3–x with F♯ replacing the F. There is no comfortable six-note fingering and no reason to look for one.
Where it appears
In modal jazz, where the stacked-fourths sound of a rootless voicing over a pedal is the point and nobody is listening for a third. In arranging, as a way of writing what a section is holding rather than what a chord means.
In popular music it is essentially absent, which is not an oversight: songs need chords that support melodies, and this one contradicts the third scale degree.
Major eleventh against its neighbours
Cmaj9 is C–E–G–B–D and has no eleventh at all. Cmaj7♯11 is C–E–G–B–F♯. Cmaj11 is the version with a natural eleventh, and it is the only one of the three that fights itself.
Minor eleventh chords have no such problem: over a minor third, the natural eleventh is a whole tone away and sounds smooth. The clash is specific to major chords.
Scales that contain it
Ionian contains every note, which is exactly why the chord is awkward — the scale's fourth degree is the note theory books tell melodists to avoid over a tonic major chord, and this chord puts it in the harmony.
Lydian avoids the problem by raising it, and that is the scale players use when a chart calls for maj11 and the arrangement can take the raised fourth.
Frequently asked questions
What notes are in a Cmaj11 chord?
C, E, G, B, D and F. In practice either the third or the eleventh is altered, because the two are a semitone apart.
Why does maj11 sound wrong?
The natural eleventh sits a semitone above the major third. That interval inside a chord is the harshest collision available, and no voicing removes it — only dropping the third or raising the eleventh does.
What should I play when a chart says maj11?
Usually maj9♯11 — the same chord with the eleventh raised, which keeps the third. If the arrangement wants the open stacked-fourths sound instead, play a minor seventh chord on the fifth degree over the root.