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The F#m6 chord

The F#m6 (F# - A - C# - D#) is a minor sixth, which is why it sounds a minor chord with a wink. Writers pick it for a touch of sweetness in a sad context, and you can find it across vintage jazz and 1930s-style ballads. On guitar the chord sits naturally where most players already park their hand; on piano it stacks straight up under the right hand. The page below covers the voicings worth memorising, the theory, the progressions where the F#m6 earns its keep, and the records that lean on it.

Hear the F#m6 in the chord builder →

Voicings for F#m6

Common ways to grip the F#m6 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 F#m6 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: Am6 shape at fr.9

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

Guitar: Em6 shape at fr.2

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

Guitar: Dm6 shape at fr.4

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.4

Notes: top-string triad, fr.4

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.8

Notes: top-string triad, fr.8

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.11

Notes: top-string triad, fr.11

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.1

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.1

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.4

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.4

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.8

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.8

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.1

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.1

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.4

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.4

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.6

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.6

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 minor 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 F#m6

F#m6 is a minor sixth built on F#. Its three or four notes (F# - A - C# - D#) 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 F#m6 wants to resolve to the dominant or back to the i.

Progressions that use F#m6

Short progressions that put the F#m6 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

F#m6 (as passing colour)

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

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Songs that feature F#m6

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 F#m6 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadF# DomF#7 Maj7F#maj7 m7F#m7 NeighbourC#m NeighbourB NeighbourBm NeighbourB7

Keys where F#m6 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 F#m6 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 F#m6 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 F#m6. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.