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The C6 chord

Think of the C6 as the country-swing major. The chord is built from C - E - G - A, a textbook major sixth. It does its strongest work in country swing and chord-melody guitar, where it tends to voice the I chord with a touch of jazz. The C6 shows up in more songs than you would expect. The classic doo-wop colour, used in Heart and Soul and a thousand 1950s ballads. Voicings on both instruments, theory in plain language, progressions in multiple keys and a handful of real song references are all laid out below.

Hear the C6 in the chord builder →

Voicings for C6

Common ways to grip the C6 on guitar and piano. Guitar diagrams read low E to high E left-to-right; an × means muted, an open circle above the nut means an open string. Filled dots are fretted notes.

Guitar , full chord shapes

CAGED-derived voicings for C6 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: E6 shape at fr.8

Notes: C - E - G - A (chord tones)

Guitar: A6 shape at fr.3

Notes: C - E - G - A (chord tones)

Guitar: C6 shape

Notes: C - E - G - A (chord tones)

Guitar: G6 shape at fr.5

Notes: C - E - G - A (chord tones)

Guitar: top-4 voicing

Notes: C - E - G - A (chord tones)

Guitar: high top-4 voicing

Notes: C - E - G - A (chord tones)

Guitar , triad shapes

Three-note voicings on three adjacent strings. Light textures for arpeggios, pop layering and chord-melody work.

Triad: top-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: middle-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: bass-side triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Piano voicings

Root position and inversions. The bass note matters: each inversion changes how the chord sits under a melody.

Piano: root position

Notes: C - E - G - A. Root C at the bottom. The classic stacked-thirds spelling of a major sixth.

Piano: first inversion

Notes: E - G - A - C. E at the bottom. Common in chord-melody, walking bass lines and gentler voicings.

Piano: second inversion

Notes: G - A - C - E. G at the bottom. A floating, suspended feel often used in hymns and ballads.

Piano: third inversion

Notes: A - C - E - G. A at the bottom. The seventh in the bass , a smooth jazz favourite.

The theory behind C6

C6 is a major sixth built on C. Its three or four notes (C - E - G - A) sit a specific distance apart: root, major third, perfect fifth, major sixth. That makes it a passing chord in the key of a closely related major key, and the same chord works as the passing chord in a closely related major key. The simplest rule of thumb: the C6 wants to stay home as a coloured I chord.

Progressions that use C6

Short progressions that put the C6 to work. Each one is shown in a different key so you can pick the one that suits your singer.

I→IV→V key of C major

C6 (as passing colour)

This chord appears as a borrowed or passing chord in many major-key progressions.

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Songs that feature C6

Real records where this chord does structural work. No lyrics quoted, just the title and artist so you can pull up a copy and hear it in context.

Heart and Soul by Standard. C6 within the iconic doo-wop progression.
Misty by Standard. C6 colour as a passing chord.
In My Life by The Beatles. C6 colour inside the verse harmony.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the C6 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadC DomC7 Maj7Cmaj7 m7Cm7 NeighbourG NeighbourGm NeighbourG7 NeighbourF

Keys where C6 lives

The keys where this chord turns up diatonically. Open any key page for the full set of progressions that lean on it.

C major A minor

More songwriting tools

Got the chord but still wrestling with the lyric? Find the right rhyme in RhymeForge, or break a writer's block with the unexpected word-pair generator in CollisionLab. Need to map a full progression? The chord builder on the home page is where the C6 fits into context. All free, no signup.

About the chord builder

The Undercover Zest chord progression builder is a free interactive tool that maps every diatonic and borrowed chord in every key. Click a Roman numeral to hear it, drag chords into a progression, then audition voicings, inversions and tensions until the song clicks.

This page is a static reference for the C6. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.