Major 7th #11
maj7#11
0 - 4 - 7 - 11 - 18Major7 + augmented 11th (Lydian) — без 9th
About Major 7th #11
A major seventh sharp eleven chord is a major seventh with a raised fourth added — in C that is C, E, G, B and F♯, written Cmaj7♯11. It is the Lydian sound compressed into one chord: bright, wide, and unmistakably not the plain major seventh it grew from.
Notes and formula
The formula is 1 – 3 – 5 – 7 – ♯11, or 0 – 4 – 7 – 11 – 18 in semitones. The eleventh is raised rather than natural, which is the whole reason the chord works.
A natural eleventh would sit a semitone above the third and ruin the chord. Raised, it sits a tritone above the root — an interval that sounds unstable between two notes alone but reads as colour once a major seventh is holding the chord together.
How to play it
On piano the working voicing is C in the left hand and E–B–F♯ in the right, with the ninth added if the texture allows. The F♯ wants to be above the B, not below it.
On guitar the movable form is x–3–4–4–3–x, sounding C–F♯–B–E. The fifth is absent, which is right: with a raised fourth in the chord, the perfect fifth adds weight and takes away the openness the chord exists for.
Where it comes from
Lydian, directly. Build a chord from the first, third, fifth, seventh and raised fourth of a Lydian scale and this is it, which is why the chord and the mode are effectively two names for one sound.
It also arises functionally: a major seventh chord on the fourth degree of a key takes a raised eleventh naturally, because the natural one would belong to a different key. Fmaj7♯11 in C major is the everyday example.
Where you hear it
Film scoring uses it for scale and optimism — the chord under an establishing shot is very often this one. Jazz uses it as a non-tonic major chord, and fusion treats it as a default.
It is also the sound of a great deal of Japanese city pop and of Brazilian writing after bossa nova, where a major chord that is not the key centre is almost always given the raised fourth.
Sharp eleven or flat five
Cmaj7♯11 has five notes and keeps its perfect fifth; Cmaj7♭5 has four and replaces it. The raised fourth and the lowered fifth are the same pitch and not the same idea.
The presence of G is audible: with it the chord is wide and stable, without it thinner and more ambiguous. Charts confuse the two constantly, and the fifth is what to listen for.
Scales that contain it
Lydian fits exactly and nothing else does without alteration. Ionian contradicts the chord's defining note, which makes this one of the few chords that rules out the major scale outright.
For a melody, the useful consequence is that the fourth degree — normally a note to pass through quickly over a major chord — becomes a note to land on, because the harmony has already raised it.
Frequently asked questions
What notes are in a Cmaj7♯11 chord?
C, E, G, B and F♯. On guitar, x–3–4–4–3–x, which leaves out the fifth.
Why raise the eleventh instead of using a natural one?
A natural eleventh sits a semitone above the major third and clashes. Raising it moves the note a whole tone away from the third and turns a collision into the Lydian colour.
When is this chord the right choice?
On any major chord that is not the key centre — the fourth degree of a major key especially — and wherever a major seventh needs to sound wider without sounding unresolved.