A Major 7#11 (Amaj7#11)
Notes in A Major 7#11
Inversions
Same notes as A Major 7#11, with a different chord tone as the lowest note. Useful for smoother movement between chords instead of jumping around the keyboard.
Root position
A in the bass
1st inversion
C# in the bass (Amaj7#11/C#)
2nd inversion
E in the bass (Amaj7#11/E)
3rd inversion
G# in the bass (Amaj7#11/G#)
4th inversion
D# in the bass (Amaj7#11/D#)
Open voicings
A close-position chord like A Major 7#11 can sound cluttered in the middle of the keyboard. Jazz players open it up by dropping one note down an octave, spreading the same notes wider without changing the chord.
Drop 2
G# on the bottom
Drop 3
E on the bottom
Play A, C#, E, G# and D# together and you get A Major 7#11.
A major seventh with a sharpened eleventh, the classic Lydian sound. The raised eleventh lifts what would be a calm major seventh into something brighter and a little weightless. Film cues and modern jazz use it whenever a major chord should feel dreamy rather than finished.