Shape characteristics
Partial barre
One finger presses two strings at the same fret. A lighter, less tiring grip than a full barre while still being fully movable.
Mid-neck · fret 7-10
Balanced tone, with neither the ringing openness of first position nor the bright snap of the upper register. Common choice for rhythm work when you want a fuller, more compact sound.
Full six-string voicing
All six strings ring, giving you the biggest, most resonant version of this chord, ideal for strumming and solo acoustic contexts.
Bass: D · Top: B
An extended chord tone is in the bass, giving the voicing a distinctive colour beyond the standard inversions.
Compared to Shape a89988 , this voicing uses a closed voicing and sits higher on the neck (starting at fret 8).
How to play this shape
- 1 Place the 1st finger on the 7th fret of the 1st string and 5th string in barre position
- 2 Place the 2nd finger on the 8th fret of the 2nd string
- 3 Place the 3rd finger on the 10th fret of the 6th string
- 4 Place the 4th finger on the 10th fret of the 3rd string and 4th string in barre position
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "a7aa87" mean?
The sequence a7aa87 is a highly compact guitar chord notation. It represents the fret played on each of the 6 strings, reading left-to-right from the thickest (lowest pitch) string to the thinnest (highest pitch) string: E, A, D, G, B, e.
- x means the string is muted or skipped entirely.
- 0 means the string is played "open" (without pressing over a fret).
- 1-9 represent standard fret numbers 1 to 9.
- a, b, c... represent frets 10, 11, 12, and higher (where a=10, b=11, c=12).
Can I play this Cmaj11/D shape anywhere else?
Yes! This specific layout is just one way to voice a Cmaj11/D chord. You can find all other variations in our chord shape library for Cmaj11/D. Most guitarists choose different shapes based on whether they want a "brighter" or "deeper" sound, or which chord they are transitioning from.
Other shapes
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