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The Cm6 chord

Hear the Cm6 and you hear a vintage flavour, common in standards and torch songs, courtesy of the minor sixth spelling (C - D# - G - A). Players use it to introduce a vintage sheen, which is why it turns up across vintage jazz and 1930s-style ballads. A vintage torch-song minor, common in 1930s Hollywood ballads. Common voicings on guitar and piano, the theory in plain language, the progressions where the chord earns its place, and a list of real song references are all in the sections that follow.

Hear the Cm6 in the chord builder →

Voicings for Cm6

Common ways to grip the Cm6 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 Cm6 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: Am6 shape at fr.3

Notes: C - D# - G - A (chord tones)

Guitar: Em6 shape at fr.8

Notes: C - D# - G - A (chord tones)

Guitar: Dm6 shape at fr.10

Notes: C - D# - G - A (chord tones)

Guitar: top-4 voicing

Notes: C - D# - G - A (chord tones)

Guitar: high top-4 voicing

Notes: C - D# - 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 - D# - G - A. Root C at the bottom. The classic stacked-thirds spelling of a minor sixth.

Piano: first inversion

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

Piano: second inversion

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

Piano: third inversion

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

The theory behind Cm6

Cm6 is a minor sixth built on C. Its three or four notes (C - D# - G - A) sit a specific distance apart: root, minor 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 Cm6 wants to resolve to the dominant or back to the i.

Progressions that use Cm6

Short progressions that put the Cm6 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 A minor

Cm6 (as passing colour)

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

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Songs that feature Cm6

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.

Cry Me a River by Standard. Cm6 within the song's lush minor harmony.
Summertime by Standard. Cm6 colour in the verse.
Black Coffee by Standard. Cm6 within the standard's torch-song palette.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the Cm6 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadC DomC7 Maj7Cmaj7 m7Cm7 NeighbourG NeighbourGm NeighbourG7 NeighbourF

Keys where Cm6 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 Cm6 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 Cm6. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.