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The F6 chord

Built from F - A - C - D, the F6 is a major sixth that sounds a nostalgic major chord, common in jazz and old-time pop. It lives at the centre of jazz standards and old-time country, and it rewards exploration. What follows below: the voicings worth memorising on guitar and piano, the theory in plain language, progressions in two or three different keys, and a short list of real records that lean on the chord.

Hear the F6 in the chord builder →

Voicings for F6

Common ways to grip the F6 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 F6 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: E6 shape at fr.1

Notes: F - A - C - D (chord tones)

Guitar: A6 shape at fr.8

Notes: F - A - C - D (chord tones)

Guitar: C6 shape at fr.5

Notes: F - A - C - D (chord tones)

Guitar: G6 shape at fr.10

Notes: F - A - C - D (chord tones)

Guitar: top-4 voicing

Notes: F - A - C - D (chord tones)

Guitar: high top-4 voicing

Notes: F - A - C - D (chord tones)

Guitar , triad shapes

Three-note triad shapes on each string set, shown moving up the neck. Light textures for arpeggios, pop layering and chord-melody work.

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.3

Notes: top-string triad, fr.3

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.7

Notes: top-string triad, fr.7

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.10

Notes: top-string triad, fr.10

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · open

Notes: middle-string triad, open

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.3

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.3

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.7

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.7

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · open

Notes: bass-side triad, open

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.3

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.3

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.5

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.5

Piano voicings

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

Piano: root position

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

Piano: first inversion

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

Piano: second inversion

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

Piano: third inversion

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

The theory behind F6

The F6 chord (F - A - C - D) is a major sixth. Its intervals are root, major third, perfect fifth, major sixth. Functionally it lives at home in a closely related major key as the passing chord, but you'll also find it in a closely related major key as the passing chord. The chord tends to stay home as a coloured I chord, which is why it shows up in country swing and old jazz.

Progressions that use F6

Short progressions that put the F6 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

F6 (as passing colour)

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

→ Build this in the chord builder

Songs that feature F6

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.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the F6 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadF DomF7 Maj7Fmaj7 m7Fm7 NeighbourC NeighbourCm NeighbourC7 NeighbourBb

Keys where F6 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

Related references

Other ways to put the F6 to work across the reference library.

Arpeggiooutline it with arpeggios

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 F6 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 F6. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.