6th Chords by Rockmaster
How to Build and Use 6th Chords
6th Chords by Rockmaster
Sixth chords are Major chords built on the 1st, 4th and 5th scale steps and a minor chord built on the 2nd scale step of the Major scale.
For simplicity we will say we add the 6th to the triad to get the 6th chord. But chords are formed by stacking Major and minor thirds. So what we are really doing is adding the minor third below the root of the triad to form the sixth chord.
Sixth chords are diatonic chords so all the chord tones must be scale tones from the key that you are playing.
Sixth chords are not as common as seventh chords but are quite interesting.
We will build the sixth chords for the key of C Major.
I6 C6
We add A to the C triad to get the C6 chord. The A is a minor third below the root, so we can say that we add a minor third to the triad to get the sixth chord.
IIm6 Dm6
We add B to the Dm triad to get the Dm6 chord. The B is a minor third below the root and is diatonic to the key of C.
IIIm6? Em6 X
We add C# to the Em triad to get the Em6 chord. The C# is a minor third below the root.
But we are playing in the key of C and C# is not part of that scale. So there is an Em6 chord but it is not part of the C Major diatonic family of chords.
There is no IIIm6 chord.
IV6 F6
We add D to the F triad to get the F6 chord. The D is a minor third below the root.
V6 G6
We add E to the G triad to get the G6 chord. The E is a minor third below the root.
VIm6? Am6 X
We add F# to the Am triad to get the Am6 chord. The F# is a minor third below the root.
But we are playing in the key of C and F# is not part of that scale. So there is an Am6 chord
but it is not part of the C Major diatonic family of chords.
There is no VIm6 chord.
VII?6 B?6 X
We add G# to the B triad to form a chord, G# B D F. The G# is a minor third below the root but it is not in the key of C so it is not a diatonic chord. It is also not a sixth chord. It is called a diminished seventh chord and can take its name from any note in the chord (G# dim., B dim., D dim., F dim.) This is an equal interval chord.
There is no III6, VI6 or VII6 chord.
The notes contained in the sixth chords are also the notes in the relative chord. C6 = Am7,
Dm6 = Bm7(b5), F6 = Dm7(b5), G6 = Em7(b5)
