CHORD REFERENCE

C6

C – E – G – A1 3 5 6

The C 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
C1E3G5A6

C6 is C, E, G, A — the 1, 3, 5 and 6 above the root C.

Piano
CEGA
Guitar

Ways to play it

A-shape barre — 3rd fret
3fr×

Guitar — every position (frets 0–12)

357912eEGACEBCEGAGGACEGDEGACAACEGAEEGACE

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)

Movable shape
GCEA
357912AACEGAEEGACECCEGACGGACEG

The shape above is movable up the neck. Every position of the chord tones on the ukulele neck — any group that sounds only C, E, G, A plays the chord.

In which keys

C6 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 C chords

Triads

CMajorCmMinorC5Power Chord (5)CdimDiminishedCaugAugmentedCsus2Suspended 2ndCsus4Suspended 4th

Sixths & sevenths

Cm6Minor 6thC7Dominant 7thCmaj7Major 7thCm7Minor 7thCm(maj7)Minor–Major 7thCdim7Diminished 7thCm7♭5Half-Diminished (m7♭5)C7sus47sus4

Altered dominants

C7♭57♭5C7♯57♯5 (Augmented 7th)C7♭97♭9C7♯97♯9 (Hendrix Chord)

Extended & added

Cadd9Added 9thC6/96/9C9Dominant 9thCmaj9Major 9thCm9Minor 9thC11Dominant 11thC13Dominant 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.