Minor Sixth Chords

Let’s look at how to play an F sharp minor 6 chord on the piano. We’ll also learn the pattern for building any other minor sixth chord.

What Are Minor Sixth Chords?

Minor sixth chords are minor chords with an added note. The added note is the sixth note of the matching major scale.

To build a minor sixth chord, we’ll start by building a minor chord. We can build a minor chord by taking the matching major chord and lowering the middle note 1/2 step.

Then to convert the minor chord into a minor sixth chord, we’ll add the sixth note of the matching major scale.

Chord Types Printable

Learn to play 17 types of piano chords using 12 different root notes with this 35-page PDF! Chords are sorted both by their root note and type.

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How to Play an F Sharp Minor 6 Chord

Now let’s build an F sharp minor 6 chord. We’ll first build an F sharp minor chord by taking an F sharp major chord, F♯ – A♯ – C♯ (the first, third and fifth notes of the F sharp major scale), and lowering the middle note 1/2 step: F♯ – A – C♯

Then to convert the minor chord into a minor sixth chord, we’ll add the sixth note of the F sharp major scale: D♯

So to play an F sharp minor 6 chord, we’ll play:

F♯ – A – C♯ – D♯

We can use this pattern to build any other minor 6 chord. We’ll first build a minor chord by taking the matching major chord and lowering the middle note 1/2 step. Then we’ll add the sixth note of the matching major scale to the chord.

Other Chord Types

Some of the other chord types we can learn are:

Major
Minor
Augmented
Diminished
Second
Minor Second
Suspended
Fifth
Sixth
Seventh
Minor Seventh
Major Seventh
Ninth
Minor Ninth
Major Ninth

Conclusion

Now you know how to play an F sharp minor 6 chord on the piano, and you can use this knowledge to build any other minor 6 chord!

Using chords to learn the piano is a great way to enjoy music and to play creatively. Once we see how we can use the patterns on the piano to build scales and chords, and how we can repeat those patterns starting on any note, we begin to see the possibilities, and a new world of music is at our fingertips!