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Four notes · 1 3 5 6 · pure 12:15:18:20

The major 6th chord

A major 6th chord is a major chord with a major sixth added above the root. It sounds sweet and settled, a warm home chord with an old-fashioned glow.

How it's built

Add the sixth, 9 semitones above the root, to a major chord: C, E, G and A. It's a sixth rather than a seventh, so it can end a piece without wanting to move on.

C6 has the same notes as Am7: heard over C in the bass it's C6, over A it's Am7.

Singing it in tune

Tuned pure, it's 12:15:18:20. The third sits 13.7 cents (a cent is a hundredth of a semitone) below the piano's, the fifth 2.0 above, and the sixth, 5:3, 15.6 below. The sixth is a pure fourth above the third, and a small whole step, 10:9, above the fifth: 182.4 cents, 17.6 narrower than the piano's.

Here C6 and Am7 tune to the same four pure pitches, whichever you call the root, so a choir can tune it either way.

Where you hear it

As a final chord in swing, early jazz and close-harmony singing, where it sounds softer and sweeter than a major 7th. In classical harmony the added sixth is a familiar colour on the fourth chord of the key, F, A, C and D in C, often just before the dominant.

More chord types

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Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up.
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Questions

Is C6 the same as Am7?

They have the same four notes, C, E, G and A. The name depends on which note is the root, usually the bass: with C at the bottom it's C6, with A at the bottom Am7.

What is the difference between a 6th chord and a 7th chord?

The added note. A 6th chord adds the sixth, 9 semitones above the root, and a 7th chord the seventh, 10 or 11 above. The sixth sounds settled; the seventh adds tension or colour.

Is a major 6th chord the same as a 6 chord?

Yes: C6 means the major 6th chord, C, E, G and A. The minor version is written Cm6.

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Ready to tell them apart by ear? Try chord ear trainingChord ear training · Major, minor or seventh: which?