The Am11 bass chord is a minor 11th chord with the notes A, C, E, G, B, D. On bass it is outlined with the arpeggio A, E, A, C — root, 5th, root, 3rd. Whether you are learning it for the first time or checking a voicing, this page has the notes, the bass fingerings, the inversions and alternatives, and the progressions it appears in.
What notes are in the Am11 chord?
The Am11 chord is a minor 11th chord, and its notes are fixed: A, C, E, G, B, D. Every voicing on every instrument uses these same notes, in some order and in some octave — change one of them and you are playing a different chord. The table below lists each note with its interval from the root A, so you can see the structure of Am11 at a glance. On the bass, the arpeggio A, E, A, C outlines Am11 one note at a time.
| Note | Interval |
|---|---|
| A | Root |
| C | b3 |
| E | 5 |
| G | b7 |
| B | 9 |
| D | 11 |
The root is A, the note the chord is named after and the note your ear hears as home. Above it, the intervals in Am11 are b3, 5, b7, 9, 11. Once you know the intervals, you can build Am11 from any root by counting the same semitone steps, which is how the chord works in every key. On the bass, the notes appear in the order the fingering dictates, but the set of notes never changes.
Am11 sounds soft and open, a minor chord with the 9th and 11th adding width without tension. Listen for that character when you play it — if Am11 does not sound that way, one of the notes is probably wrong, and the table above is the place to check. On the bass, Am11 is the arpeggio A, E, A, C — root, 5th, root, 3rd — and that order is the shape to learn.
Comparing Am11 with its closest relatives helps to fix it in your ear. In short, minor 11th against minor 9th: Am11 adds the 11th D to the minor 9th chord. The extra note widens the sound without changing the function. Play both chords slowly, one after the other, and notice which note moves. Naming that note out loud while you play is the fastest way to learn the difference. On the bass, play A, E, A, C and hear how the arpeggio spells out Am11 without ever playing it as a block.
How to play Am11 on bass
On the bass, Am11 is not played as a full chord shape the way it is on guitar or piano. Instead you outline it with an arpeggio: the notes A, E, A, C, which are the chord tones of Am11 in the order root, 5th, root, 3rd. That pattern is the working shape for this chord on bass, and it tells the listener exactly which chord is sounding, even though you never play all the notes at once.
Practise the arpeggio of Am11 by playing A on beat one, E on beat two, A on beat three and C on beat four, one note per beat, letting each note ring for its full value. Then play it backwards — C, A, E, A — so your fingers learn the shape in both directions. The root A is the anchor: it is the note the rest of the band listens for, so land on it cleanly and on time, and let the 5th E and the 3rd C colour the bar without pulling attention away from the root.
Once the straight arpeggio of Am11 is comfortable, try playing just the root A and the 5th E for a whole bar, then add the 3rd C on the last beat as a passing colour. That root-and-5th skeleton is how most bass lines outline Am11 in a real song, and the full arpeggio is the version you use when the arrangement has space for it. Check the notes with the Bass Chord Finder and the Chord Finder, and practise the arpeggio against a slow metronome so the notes land exactly on the beat.
Common mistakes
These are the mistakes that most often make Am11 sound wrong on the bass, and each one has a concrete fix. Work through them one at a time rather than trying to fix everything at once.
Playing the major 3rd. The 3rd must stay minor (C). A major 3rd turns this into a dominant 11th. On the bass, the arpeggio A, E, A, C outlines Am11 one note at a time.
Crowding the voicing. Six notes need space. Drop the 5th (E) first and spread the rest across octaves. On the bass, the arpeggio A, E, A, C outlines Am11 one note at a time.
Losing the 11th. Without D this is just a minor 9th chord. The 11th is the note that makes it an 11th. On the bass, Am11 is the arpeggio A, E, A, C — root, 5th, root, 3rd — and that order is the shape to learn.
Playing it too fast. Am11 is a slow chord. At a fast tempo its colour gets lost. On the bass, Am11 is the arpeggio A, E, A, C — root, 5th, root, 3rd — and that order is the shape to learn.
Where Am11 is used
Am11 is not a diatonic triad in any major or minor key, because it is an extended or altered chord, but its base triad belongs to the key of C major, the key of F major, the key of G major. a chord for slow, open playing, where its width has room to breathe. As a dominant-type chord it also points toward D major, the key a perfect fourth above A, which is the tonic it most often resolves to. That is where Am11 does its work: not as a home chord, but as a chord that creates movement and then resolves. On the bass, Am11 is the arpeggio A, E, A, C — root, 5th, root, 3rd — and that order is the shape to learn.
Because Am11 is an extended or altered chord, it appears in progressions as a colour or a dominant rather than as a diatonic staple. Try it in place of the plain A triad in a progression you already know, and listen to how the extra notes change the feel — that substitution is the usual way extended chords enter real music. The Chord Progression Builder lets you try Am11 in a progression in any key and hear how it connects to the chords around it. On the bass, Am11 is the arpeggio A, E, A, C — root, 5th, root, 3rd — and that order is the shape to learn.
The same chord on other instruments is covered in Am11 on guitar, Am11 on piano, Am11 on ukulele, and the scales that fit over it are the A major scale and the A minor pentatonic scale. Learning Am11 on the bass and then checking it on another instrument is one of the best ways to fix the notes — A, C, E, G, B, D — in your memory, because the notes stay the same while everything else changes.
Practising Am11
A short worked example makes Am11 concrete. Play the four-chord progression D – A – Bm – G in D major, the key Am11 most often resolves toward: D – A – Bm – G. Play each chord for one bar at a slow tempo, and listen to how Am11 sounds in that sequence — whether it feels like home, like a lift, or like a chord on its way somewhere else. Then play the same four chords in a different order, starting on Am11 itself, and notice how its character changes when it opens the progression instead of sitting inside it. On the bass, play A, E, A, C and hear how the arpeggio spells out Am11 without ever playing it as a block.
For a second exercise, play Am11 and then the chord a fourth above A, back and forth, four times each. That move — a chord and the chord a fourth above it — is the most common resolution in Western music, and it is the move Am11 is built for when it acts as a dominant. Finish by playing Am11 on its own, slowly, and naming each note out loud as you play it: A, C, E, G, B, D. Naming the notes while you play them is what turns a shape into knowledge you can use in any key. Test yourself with the Practice Chord Quiz and keep time with the Metronome as the tempo rises. On the bass, Am11 is the arpeggio A, E, A, C — root, 5th, root, 3rd — and that order is the shape to learn.
Frequently asked questions
Should you play the full Am11 chord on bass?
Usually not. On bass the chord is outlined with the arpeggio A, E, A, C, not strummed as a block. Playing all the notes at once sounds muddy in the low register and hides the root, which is the note the rest of the band is listening for.
What notes are in Am11?
Am11 contains A, C, E, G, B, D: root, minor 3rd, perfect 5th, flattened 7th, 9th and 11th. In practice the 5th is often omitted to make room for the extensions. On the bass, the arpeggio above spells that note out one note at a time.
Is Am11 major or minor?
Minor. Its 3rd is C, and the flattened 7th G keeps it mellow. The 9th and 11th add width, not brightness. On the bass, the arpeggio above spells that note out one note at a time.
Where is Am11 used?
Am11 is a minor tonic in jazz, neo-soul and R&B, and a ii chord in major keys. It suits slow tempos and open voicings. On the bass, the arpeggio above spells that note out one note at a time.
How do you play Am11 on the bass?
Outline it with the arpeggio A, E, A, C: root, 5th, root, 3rd. Play one note per beat, with the root A on beat one, and let each note ring. That arpeggio tells the listener exactly which chord is sounding, even though you never play all the notes of Am11 at once.