Minor Sixth Chord
A minor triad with a major sixth on top: C, E flat, G and A. The sixth stays major even though the chord is minor, and that disagreement between the dark third and the bright sixth is the whole appeal.
- 4 notes
- 1 b3 5 6
- bittersweet
which styles use it
- Bossa nova
- Swing
- Soul & R&B
- Film music
Which notes are in a minor sixth chord?
A minor triad with a major sixth above the root. In C: C, E flat, G and A.
- C, the root
- E flat, the minor third
- G, the fifth
- A, the major sixth
The A is the surprise. You might expect a minor chord to take a minor sixth, but a m6 chord means the major one, in every key.
Why does it sound bittersweet rather than sad?
Because those two notes come from opposite sides. The E flat is the minor third, the note that makes the chord dark. The A is a major sixth, which is the note that separates dorian from natural minor and is the reason dorian sounds less bleak.
Play a Cm7 and then a Cm6. One note moves up a half step, from B flat to A, and the room gets lighter without the chord turning major. That is a m6 in one move, and it is also dorian in one chord.
Where do you find it?
As the home chord in minor key jazz and bossa nova, where it does the same job the C6 does in major: it takes the itch out of the ending without removing the minor third.
It is also the chord at the bottom of the descending minor line: Cm, CmMaj7, Cm7, C6, where the top voice walks down one half step at a time and the last step lands here.
Cm6 or Cm7?
One note apart, and they behave very differently.
- Cm7 (C Eb G Bb) - Flattened seventh. Neutral, loops forever, points nowhere.
- Cm6 (C Eb G A) - Major sixth. Comes to rest, and sounds like dorian rather than natural minor.
- CmMaj7 (C Eb G B) - Major seventh. The tense one, on its way somewhere.
Common mistakes
- Playing a minor sixth in it
A m6 chord takes the major sixth. Put an A flat in there instead and you have an inversion of a very different chord.
- Using it in a natural minor context
The major sixth is not in natural minor. It will sound like a borrowed note, which can be good, but it is a choice and not a default.
Keep going
Everything in chords
- Sixth Chord
- Minor Sixth Chord
- Sus2 Chord
- Sus4 Chord
- 7sus4 Chord
- Power Chord