CadenzaB minor eleventh
Bm11
Also written Bmin11 · B−11
The minor 11th — the dorian chord of modal jazz, the harmony of “So What” and “Impressions”. The 11th (E) sits a 4th above the root, so the chord voices beautifully in fourths.
How pianists voice Bm11
Nobody plays a jazz chord in root position. These are the shapes that actually get played — the same ones Cadenza shows when you play the chord.
Shell Left hand
1 · ♭3 · ♭7 — root, 3rd and 7th: the three notes that say what the chord is. Left hand, low; everything else is colour.
Rootless A From the 3rd
♭3 · 5 · ♭7 · 9 — no root: the bass player has it. The left-hand voicing of modern jazz piano. Without B underneath, the same keys read as Dmaj7 — the bass turns them into Bm11.
Rootless B From the 7th
♭7 · 9 · ♭3 · 5 — the other half of the pair. A and B alternate through a ii–V–I so the hand barely moves.
Drop 2 Two hands
5 · 1 · ♭3 · ♭7 — close position with the second voice from the top dropped an octave: wider, warmer, the standard for chord melody.
So What voicing Fourths
1 · 11 · ♭7 · ♭3 · 5 — three perfect 4ths with a major 3rd on top: the shape Bill Evans played on Miles Davis's “So What”, here built up from the root.
Kenny Barron voicing Fifths
1 · 5 · 9 · ♭3 · ♭7 · 11 — stacked 5ths in both hands, a semitone apart in the middle: root, 5th and 9th in the left, ♭3, ♭7 and 11 in the right.
Minor eleventh chords in every key
Every B chord
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