minor 7th raised 11

[symPATHETIC]

i got the minor 7....but how might one raise 11....just out of curiosity?

[fullcity]

A raised 11th is the same as an augmented 4th, or the tritone above the root. So, for a Cm7#11 you would add an F# to the Cm7 chord. When voicing a chord like this, you should omit the 5th, as it will produce unpleasant chromatic dissonance.

Notes in a Cm7#11 are:

C Eb F# Bb

To make you a bit more crazy, in jazz this chord is commonly used, but the alteration to the 4th is expressed enharmonically as an alteration to the 5th. It's called a "minor seventh flat five" chord. This is the 7th chord built upon the seventh scale degree in a diatonic scale.

So, in the key of C Major you would have a Bm7b5 chord (B D F A).

Hope this helps somewhat!

[symPATHETIC]

i am racking my brain trying to figure out the finger placement in that....would i do something with my pinky when i am forming the Cm7??

[boyecho]

goodness, i need to go back to school..

[fullcity]

The finger placement is easy for a m7b5 chord with its root on the 5th string. For example, Cm7b5 (enharmonically equivalent to Cm7#11) could be fingered:

1st finger on 5th string, 3rd fret
3rd finger on 4th string, 4th fret
2nd finger on 3rd string, 3rd fret
4th finger on 2nd string, 4th fret
(only play the 4 middle strings)

Forgive my bad tab:

-----x-----------
-----------4-----
-----2-----------
-----------3-----
-----1-----------
-----x-----------
3rd 4th

Notice that this is only one fret away from a standard barre chord Cm7 on the 3rd fret. You're lowering the 5th (G) to Gb (aka F# when expressed as #11).

Is this making more sense?

[Elnwood]

Ah, jazz chords ... I learned them all once, but don't use them enough to be able to form them quickly. Good answers, fullcity.

Just to add, a m7b5 is also called a half-diminished chord in classical music theory.

A typical minor chord cadence is IIm7b5 - V7 - Im.