In this lesson, we cover how to play minor 6 chords on guitar, which are more commonly used in jazz and can be used to add color to your chords.
We’ll first go over the music theory to understand minor 6 chords and then show you examples of how to play them throughout the fretboard starting on different strings. Let’s get started!
Minor 6 chord theory
Minor 6 chords are an extension of the minor triad and include the chord tones 1, b3, 5, and 6. The added 6th note adds a unique color to the chord. For example, a C minor 6 chord has the notes C, Eb, G, and A.
C minor 6 can also be written as C min 6 or C m 6.
The minor 6 chord is quite similar to the minor 7 chord with only that last chord tone being different. In contrast, the minor 7 chord has the chord tones 1, b3, 5, and b7.
However, minor 6 chords are often used interchangeably with minor 7 chords.
Minor 6 chord formula
The formula for a minor 6 chord between each chord tone is 1.5 whole steps, then 2 whole steps, then 1 whole step. See the formula in the image below.
Minor 6 chord chart examples
Here is a chart of the notes included in minor 6 chords starting on every root note.
| Minor 6 chord | 1 | b3 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C minor 6 | C | Eb | G | A |
| D minor 6 | D | F | A | B |
| E minor 6 | E | G | B | C# |
| F minor 6 | F | Ab | C | D |
| G minor 6 | G | Bb | D | E |
| A minor 6 | A | C | E | F# |
| B minor 6 | B | D | F# | G# |
| Db minor 6 | Db | E | Ab | Bb |
| Eb minor 6 | Eb | Gb | Bb | C |
| Gb minor 6 | Gb | A | Db | Eb |
| Ab minor 6 | Ab | B | Eb | F |
| Bb minor 6 | Bb | Db | F | G |
Common Minor 6 chords
To start out, here are three common minor 6 chord shapes that you can start applying to your playing. Afterward, we’ll look at more chords and inversions using the drop 2 chord system.
The following chord shapes are movable, meaning that you can use them to start on any root note. The numbers to the right of some strings refer to the chord tones related to the root note.
Shape 1: Minor 6 chord – 6th string
Shape 2: Minor 6 chord – 6th string variation
Shape 3: Minor 6 chord – 5th string
Minor 6 chords on the 6th string
These following minor 6 chords are drop 2 chords because the second highest note gets dropped by an octave.
Root position
1st inversion
2nd inversion
3rd inversion
Easily look up guitar chords with the Essential Guitar Chords Chart!
This chart covers how to play:
- Major chords
- Minor chords
- Major 7 chords
- Minor 7 chords
- Dominant chords
- Half diminished chords
- Diminished chords
- Chords starting on all (12) root notes
- Over 80+ chords!
Minor 6 chords on the 5th string
The following minor 6 chords are the same as the four previous ones except starting on the 5th string.
Root position
1st inversion
2nd inversion
3rd inversion
Minor 6 chords on the 4th string
And here are the same drop 2 chord shapes starting on the 4th string.
Root position
1st inversion
2nd inversion
3rd inversion
Bonus: Minor 6 chords with extensions
The following shapes are minor 6 chords with added chord extensions. Also, note that the 6th degree is referred to as 13 whenever a 7th degree is included or implied in a chord. To learn more about chord extensions, see this lesson on how to play jazz guitar chords.
Minor 7 (13) – 6th string
Minor 7 (13) – 5th string
Minor 6 (9) chord
Wrapping up
In this lesson, we covered what minor 6 chords are, how to play them on the 6th, 5th, and 4th string, as well as some shapes with added chord extensions.
You can generally use these chords anywhere you would use minor 7 chords. Experiment with the sound of these chords and see how you can apply them in progressions to bring out different colors in your playing.
You can also check out this other lesson to learn how to play Major 6 chords on guitar.
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All the best,
JG
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