Sixth Chord - Sixth, Sixth Chord, and Added Sixth

Sixth, Sixth Chord, and Added Sixth

In music, the sixth factor of a chord is the note or pitch six scale degrees above the root or tonal center (see sixth chord). When the sixth is the bass note, or lowest note, of the expressed chord, the chord is in third inversion Play. However, this is equivalent to a seventh chord.

Conventionally, the sixth is third in importance to the root, fifth, and third, being an added tone. It is generally not allowed as the root since that inversion resembles a seventh chord on the sixth rather than an added tone on the original note. In jazz chords and theory, the sixth is required due to its being an added tone.

The quality of the sixth may be determined by the scale or may be indicated. For example, in a major scale a diatonic sixth added to the tonic chord will be major (C-E-G-A) while in minor it will be minor (C-E♭-G-A♭).

The sixth is octave equivalent to the thirteenth. If one could cut out the notes in between the fifth and the thirteenth and then drop the thirteenth down an octave to a sixth, one would have an added sixth chord (CEGB♭D'F'A' – B♭D'F' = CEGA).