Chord Shapes

Minor 11th

Intervals (practical): 1-b3-5-b7-9-11, often voiced without the 5th. The 11th (same pitch as the 4th) adds a suspended, quartal flavour that sits very comfortably on minor chords because it lies a whole step above the minor 3rd. This is the archetypal Dorian/modal minor sound, famously heard in quartal voicings in “So What” and “Impressions”. Minor 11 chords work beautifully as ii chords in ii–V–I, as i or iv in modal tunes, and as static vamp sonorities in fusion and film scores. They can sustain for many bars without demanding resolution, making them ideal for extended tonal “landscapes”.