But practically speaking, the differences are very subtle. Technically speaking, they are not the same chord. So, is "sharp-11" just a different way of writing a "flat-5" chord? In the key of C, the sharp-11 is F# and the flat-5 is Gb. The difference between sharp-11 and flat-5 But, when they do show up, it’s usually because the melody contains that note.Ĭonsider the first line of Take the "A" Train, which has a G# as the sharp-11 of the D7 chord: Even when it’s not notated explicitly, any major or dominant chord can be altered with a sharp-11 if it is attractive to you.įor that reason, you actually don’t see sharp-11 chords notated in lead sheets very often. When playing from lead sheets, a sharp-11 chord is usually something left up to your creative discretion. The sharp-11 and flat-5 are enharmonically the same note - more on the later. Perhaps this is because of just how similar a minor 7 sharp-11 chord is to the minor 7 flat-5, also known as the half-diminished. Jazz is all about creative expression and breaking rules, so I'm sure someone has used it prominently, but I'm at a loss. In fact, I can't think of a time I've ever seen it. We don't actually see this chord very often. It really shines when the melody note is the 3rd, 7th or 9th of the chord. The only real "gotcha" with this is to avoid using it when the melody note is on the 5th, as the sharp-11 is only a half-step away and causes unpleasant dissonance. The major 7 sharp-11 chord, also known as the Lydian Chord, can be used to create a floating, pleasing and only slightly unresolved major chord sound.
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