F#11 Chord on Guitar
F#11 = F# – A# – C# – E – G# – B (Root, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, Minor 7th, Major 9th, Perfect 11th)
F#11 is one of the sparest shapes in this whole family — only two frets are used across all six strings, the barre fret itself and one fret higher on the G string. A full dominant-11 chord theoretically stacks six different pitches (root, third, fifth, seventh, ninth, eleventh), which is more notes than six open strings can cleanly deliver without muting something; this voicing picks four of them and lets the ear fill in the rest.
What actually sounds here is F#-B-E-A#: root, the eleventh (B, a perfect fourth above the octave root), minor seventh, and major third, with the root doubled at both ends. The eleventh sits a half step above the major third that's also present in the chord, and that close clash is the entire character of an 11 chord — a churning, slightly unresolved tension that gospel and funk players lean into deliberately rather than avoiding. It functions as a dressed-up dominant of B major, but the added tension makes it feel less like a chord that wants to resolve immediately and more like a static color to sit on.
Fingerings
Barre (2nd fret)
How to Practice It
Because only two fret positions are involved, this is genuinely one of the easier extended-chord barres to fret cleanly — the challenge is muting: with just two distinct pitches doing all the work, any buzz or wrong emphasis stands out. Practice landing the barre solidly first, then adding just the G-string finger without disturbing the barre's pressure on the other five strings. Try comping it in short rhythmic stabs rather than long strums, since that's how the tension of the clashing 3rd/11th is usually used in practice.
Common Progressions
- F#11 – F#9 – B (a dominant-color walk-down into the I chord)
- B – F#11 (I – V11, a static gospel-style vamp)
- F#11 – E – A (used as a color substitute for a plain V in A major territory)
- G#m7 – F#11 – B (ii – V11 – I in B major)
FAQ
- What happened to the 9th and 5th in this F#11 voicing?
- They're omitted — a true 11 chord has six distinct chord tones, more than six strings can voice without doubling something else, so the guitar version keeps the most identifying tones (the seventh, third, and eleventh) and drops the ninth and explicit fifth.
- Why does F#11 sound tense compared to F#9?
- Because the eleventh (B) sits only a half step above the major third (A#) that's also in the chord, and that adjacency creates a churn that a plain 9 chord's wider intervals don't have.
- Is F#11 easy to fret?
- Yes, relatively — it only uses two distinct fret positions across the whole barre, fewer than most of the other extended qualities in this family, though keeping both cleanly sounding while everything else stays muted takes some care.
- When would a guitarist reach for F#11 instead of F#9?
- When a more unsettled, held-tension color is wanted rather than a rounder, more settled ninth — 11 chords are common in gospel and funk vamps that deliberately linger on dissonance rather than resolving quickly.
- Does F#11 need to resolve to B?
- Not necessarily — as a dominant-family chord it can resolve to B major, but its tense, ambiguous color also makes it usable as a static vamp chord that doesn't move anywhere for several bars.
Related: how chords are built, chord finder.