CHORD REFERENCE

B6

B – D♯ – F♯ – G♯1 3 5 6

The B Major 6th chord and everything around it — the notes and how they are built, the shape on piano and guitar, the sound, and the keys it belongs to.

Notes
B1D♯3F♯5G♯6

B6 is B, D#, F#, G# — the 1, 3, 5 and 6 above the root B.

Piano
BD♯F♯G♯
Guitar

Ways to play it

E-shape barre — 7th fret
7fr
A-shape barre — 2nd fret
2fr×

Guitar — every position (frets 0–12)

357912eF♯G♯BD♯BBD♯F♯G♯BGG♯BD♯F♯DD♯F♯G♯BABD♯F♯G♯EF♯G♯BD♯

Root notes are red. The shapes above are movable — an E-shape has its root on the low E string, an A-shape on the A string. any group of these notes on the neck sounds the chord.

Ukulele (standard G–C–E–A)

357912ABD♯F♯G♯EF♯G♯BD♯CD♯F♯G♯BGG♯BD♯F♯

Every position of the chord tones on the ukulele neck — any group that sounds only B, D#, F#, G# plays the chord.

In which keys

B6 is a colour chord — it is not diatonic to a plain major or minor key, which is what gives it its character. It shows up as a borrowed chord, an altered dominant, or a passing sound.

Other B chords

Triads

BMajorBmMinorB5Power Chord (5)BdimDiminishedBaugAugmentedBsus2Suspended 2ndBsus4Suspended 4th

Sixths & sevenths

Bm6Minor 6thB7Dominant 7thBmaj7Major 7thBm7Minor 7thBm(maj7)Minor–Major 7thBdim7Diminished 7thBm7♭5Half-Diminished (m7♭5)B7sus47sus4

Altered dominants

B7♭57♭5B7♯57♯5 (Augmented 7th)B7♭97♭9B7♯97♯9 (Hendrix Chord)

Extended & added

Badd9Added 9thB6/96/9B9Dominant 9thBmaj9Major 9thBm9Minor 9thB11Dominant 11thB13Dominant 13th
Major 6th on another root
CC♯D♭DE♭EFF♯G♭GA♭G♯AB♭B
Keep exploring

Work out the chords of a whole key with the Scale & Chord Finder, name a chord from its notes with the Chord Identifier, or browse every chord tool. The theory behind how chords are built is in the free Cloud Atelier music guides.