B6 Chord on Guitar
B6 = B – D# – F# – G# (Root, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, Major 6th)
B6 sits at the seventh fret as an E-shape barre — roughly a third of the way up a standard neck, in the same general zone where barre chords start to demand a bit more finger independence than the lower positions do. The shape adds one finger onto the D string beyond the plain B-major barre.
The notes are B, D#, F#, G# — a major triad with a major sixth stacked on top. Those four pitches, read from a different root, spell G#m7, meaning B6 and a G#-minor-seventh barre produce identical harmony from two entirely different fretting positions. Guitarists lean on that overlap the same way they do with A6 and F#m7: ending a phrase in B major on B6 instead of the plain triad softens the cadence, leaving the ear briefly unsure whether the harmony has resolved fully to the major tonic or drifted toward its relative-minor world.
Fingerings
Barre (7th fret)
How to Practice It
Play plain B major and B6 back to back and isolate the one note that changes — the finger adding G# on the D string is the entire difference. Because B6 and G#m7 share every pitch, try fingering both shapes and comparing which note gets emphasized as the bass; it's a solid ear-training exercise for hearing how the same four notes can imply two different chords depending on context.
Common Progressions
- E – B6 – C#m – F# (IV – I6 – ii – V in B major)
- B6 – E – B6 (a softened I – IV – I)
- G#m – B6 – E – F# (vi – I6 – IV – V, leaning on the shared notes)
- B – B6 – E (a common closing move, brightening the tonic before the subdominant)
FAQ
- What's the difference between B6 and B major?
- B6 adds one note, the major sixth G#, on top of the plain triad, giving it a slightly softer, jazzier color without changing the chord's major quality.
- Why do B6 and G#m7 sound so similar?
- They're built from the exact same four notes, just with a different note functioning as the root, so the ear can genuinely read the same shape either way depending on the surrounding chords.
- Where does B6 sit on the neck?
- At the seventh fret, as a barre built from the open E-major shape.
- Is B6 harder to play than B major?
- Only marginally — it's the identical barre with one extra finger added to fret the sixth on the D string.
- Why would a songwriter choose B6 over plain B major at the end of a phrase?
- The added sixth removes some of the triad's finality, leaving the ear slightly unresolved in a pleasant way, a common trick in vintage pop and jazz-influenced writing.
- Does B6 ever substitute for G#m7 directly in a chart?
- Yes — since the notes are identical, a guitarist reading a chart calling for G#m7 in a passage centered on B major sometimes plays B6 instead, keeping B in the bass while sounding the same four notes.
- What barre technique carries over from B major to B6?
- The same first-finger barre across all six strings at the seventh fret does the foundational work in both chords; B6 just asks a further finger to reach one string to add the sixth.
- Is there a lower-position way to play B6?
- Yes — an A-shape barre at the second fret reaches the same B root with the sixth on top, a position many guitarists actually prefer over the seventh-fret E-shape for its lower, easier stretch.
- How does B6 compare to A#6, its neighbor a fret below?
- They're built the same way and relate to their own minor-seventh chord identically, just transposed a half step apart, so understanding one instantly explains the other.
- Does B6 need any special picking to bring out the sixth?
- No — a normal strum lets the sixth blend naturally into the chord's overall color without needing to be picked out separately.
- Why is the sixth chord more associated with older pop and jazz than contemporary rock?
- Sixth chords carry a vintage, big-band-era color mid-20th-century pop and jazz leaned on heavily, while contemporary rock reaches more often for plain triads or power chords, so B6 can sound distinctly retro if dropped carelessly into a modern arrangement.
- Does the choice between B and its neighboring accidental spellings change how it's played?
- No — the fretboard doesn't care about spelling conventions; the shape and the sound stay identical regardless of which name a chart uses.
B6 on other instruments: B6 on Piano, B6 on Ukulele. Related: how chords are built, chord finder.