C#m6 Chord on Guitar
C#m6 = C# – E – G# – A# (Root, Minor 3rd, Perfect 5th, Major 6th)
C#m6 brightens one corner of a dark minor triad with a major sixth on top, a combination that mixes minor and major colors more directly than most chords dare, yet has become a dependable minor-jazz voicing. It's fingered at the ninth fret as an E-shape barre, sharing its overall hand position with the rest of the C#-rooted chords clustered nearby.
The notes are C#, E, G#, and A# — root, minor third, fifth, major sixth — and that major sixth is the detail worth noticing: rather than flattening the seventh degree the way a plain minor seventh chord does, m6 chords keep the sixth degree natural, borrowed from the Dorian mode rather than plain natural minor. That borrowed brightness gives m6 chords their characteristic jazzy, slightly unresolved quality, reading as minor while carrying more lift than a plain minor triad or minor seventh chord would.
Fingerings
Barre (9th fret)
How to Practice It
This voicing needs the same barre-plus-two-fretted-notes coordination the C#6 major chord uses several entries earlier, so comparing the two directly is a good way to feel exactly how a single altered note (minor third instead of major) reshapes both the fingering and the sound. Training the ear to isolate that major sixth against the minor third pays off broadly, since that particular interval combination doesn't come up in plain triads or dominant chords anywhere else on the neck.
Common Progressions
- C#m6 – G#7 – C#m (i6 – V7 – i, a minor-jazz cadence)
- C#m – C#m6 – C#m7 – C#m6 (a chromatic descent through the minor 6th/7th family)
- F#m6 – C#m6 – G#7 (iv6 – i6 – V7 in C# minor)
- C#m6 – A – F#m – G#7 (i6 – VI – iv – V7)
FAQ
- Why is the sixth in C#m6 major rather than minor?
- Minor sixth chords are built by convention with a major sixth degree, borrowed from the Dorian mode rather than natural minor, and that borrowed brightness is exactly what gives m6 chords their jazzy lift.
- How does C#m6 differ from C#m7?
- Both add a sixth chord tone to the minor triad, but m6 adds a major sixth above the root while m7 adds a flat seventh, giving m6 a brighter, Dorian-tinged color and m7 a smoother, more conventionally minor-jazz sound.
- Why is C#m6 associated with jazz specifically?
- Combining a dark minor third with a bright major sixth creates exactly the kind of harmonic ambiguity jazz composers favor, often substituting for a plain minor tonic right before a dominant resolves.
- Does C#m6 share fingering logic with C#6?
- Yes — both use the same barre-plus-two-independent-fingers template, differing only in whether one finger frets a major or minor third.
- What scale does C#m6 borrow its sixth from?
- C# Dorian rather than C# natural minor, since natural minor's sixth degree is flat and wouldn't produce this chord's characteristic bright top note.
- Is C#m6 common outside of jazz?
- It's rarer in rock and pop, where plain minor or minor seventh chords are the more typical default, appearing instead in more harmonically adventurous singer-songwriter and film-score writing.
- Does C#m6 ever get mistaken for a different chord when heard out of context?
- Its four notes overlap heavily with a half-diminished seventh chord built on its sixth degree, so out of context a listener can easily mishear which chord is actually sounding until the bass note clarifies the root.
C#m6 on other instruments: C#m6 on Piano. Related: how chords are built, chord finder.