D6 Chord on Ukulele
D6 = D – F# – A – B (Root, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, Major 6th)
D6 looks like it should be complicated — four notes, no open strings — but it collapses into one of the simplest barre shapes on the instrument: index finger flat across all four strings at the second fret, nothing else required. Every one of the chord's four tones happens to sit at that identical fret across the four open GCEA strings, a tidy coincidence similar in spirit to C6's all-open-string voicing, just shifted up two frets and requiring the barre technique instead of no technique at all.
The sixth scale degree layered onto D major mellows the chord out, trading D major's brighter ring for something rounder and more relaxed, in the same harmonic family as the sixth chords swing-era arrangers reached for constantly. D6 slots in cleanly wherever plain D major would go, since it shares the same three chord tones plus one extra color note, so it never changes what a progression is actually doing harmonically. What makes it especially convenient is that the whole thing sits under a single fret with no finger independently moving anywhere, meaning the hand barely shifts at all from D major's own barre position to add that extra note.
Fingerings
Open Position
How to Practice It
Since D6 is a full four-string barre, focus on even pressure along the entire length of the index finger — with no open string to fall back on, any unevenness shows up immediately as a buzz somewhere in the chord. Practicing the switch from plain D major (a three-string barre plus an open A string) into D6 (the same barre extended one string further) is a natural drill, since it's the identical motion Dsus2 uses in reverse — extending or trimming the barre by one string changes the chord's color each time. Try ending a simple D-major progression on D6 instead of the plain triad to hear how the added sixth changes the final landing.
Common Progressions
- I – I6 alternation (D – D6), adding color to a static tonic
- I6 – IV – V – I (D6 – G – A – D)
- vi – IV – I6 (Bm – G – D6), landing the progression on the open barre voicing
- A closing D6 works well ending a simple strummed arrangement in D.
FAQ
- Why does D6 only need one finger despite having four different notes?
- Because all four of its chord tones happen to sit at the identical second fret across the G, C, E, and A strings, so a single flat barre finger covers the entire chord.
- How does D6 relate to plain D major's shape?
- It extends D major's existing three-string barre by one more string, covering the A string as well instead of leaving it open — the same barre, simply completed across all four strings.
- What color does the added sixth bring to D major?
- A rounder, more relaxed lift than a seventh chord's edgier pull — sixth chords were common currency in the swing bands and Tin Pan Alley songwriting of the 1920s and '30s, an era the ukulele was already deeply woven into on the mainland.
- Can D6 be used as a substitute for plain D almost anywhere?
- Yes — every note of the plain D major triad is still present here, just joined by one more, so dropping D6 in wherever a plain D would normally sit leaves the song's underlying harmony untouched while adding a touch more color.
- Is D6 as elegant a shape as C6's all-open voicing?
- Almost — where C6 needs literally no fingers at all, D6 needs exactly one, a full barre at a single fret, which still makes it one of the least demanding four-note chords on the whole instrument.
- Does D6 share any notes with B minor?
- Yes — like C6 and Am7, D6 and Bm7 share the exact same four pitches; whichever label fits comes down entirely to which of those pitches the surrounding chords treat as the harmonic center.
- What's a good exercise for building confidence with the D6 barre?
- Strum the chord slowly, releasing and reforming the full barre repeatedly, listening for any single string that fails to ring clearly — since there's no open string to disguise a weak spot, this repetition trains the hand to recognize and correct uneven pressure quickly.
- Why is D6 sometimes preferred over D7 as a color chord?
- Because it lacks D7's built-in urge to resolve toward G, D6 can sit comfortably as a destination in its own right, making it the better choice whenever a progression wants added color without also adding harmonic momentum toward a specific next chord.
D6 on other instruments: D6 on Guitar, D6 on Piano. Related: how chords are built, chord finder.