# A♭ Minor 6th piano chord (A♭m6)

A♭m6 contains A♭, C♭, E♭ and F. A minor triad with the sixth added on top. A♭ and E♭ are black keys; C♭ and F are white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/minor-6th/a-flat/
- Entity: chord:minor-6th:a-flat
- Notes: A♭ C♭ E♭ F
- Formula: 1 ♭3 5 6
- Intervals from root: P1, m3, P5, M6
- Interval stack (semitones): 3 4 2
- Also written: A♭m6, Abm6, A♭ minor 6th
- Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre

## Construction

| Degree | Note | Interval from root | Semitones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | A♭ | Perfect unison | 0 |
| ♭3 | C♭ | Minor third | 3 |
| 5 | E♭ | Perfect fifth | 7 |
| 6 | F | Major sixth | 9 |

## Fingering

Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 2 on A♭, finger 3 on C♭, finger 4 on E♭, finger 5 on F. The left hand mirrors it.
Right hand 2-3-4-5, left hand 5-4-3-2. Source: piano.org fingering method v1.

## Inversions

| Position | Bass | Notes in order | Figured bass | Span |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Root position | A♭ | A♭3 C♭3 E♭4 F4 | 7 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| First inversion (A♭m6/C♭) | C♭ | C♭3 E♭4 F4 A♭4 | 6/5 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Second inversion (A♭m6/E♭) | E♭ | E♭4 F4 A♭4 C♭4 | 4/3 | 8 st, 110 mm |
| Third inversion (A♭m6/F) | F | F4 A♭4 C♭4 E♭5 | 4/2 | 10 st, 138 mm |

## Voicings (10)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | A♭3 C♭3 E♭4 F4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | C♭3 E♭4 F4 A♭4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | E♭4 F4 A♭4 C♭4 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Close, third inversion | F4 A♭4 C♭4 E♭5 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 | E♭3 A♭3 C♭3 F4 | 14 st, 193 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 3 | C♭2 A♭3 E♭4 F4 | 18 st, 248 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 and 4 | A♭2 E♭3 C♭3 F4 | 21 st, 289 mm | identical | none |
| Shell, root 6 ♭3 | A♭2 F3 C♭3 | 15 st, 206 mm | subset | omits E♭ |
| Guide tones, ♭3 and 6 | C♭3 F4 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits A♭ and E♭ |
| Rootless close | C♭3 E♭4 F4 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits A♭ |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| A♭m | 1 ♭3 5 | drops F | 3 |
| A♭m7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | F becomes G♭ | 3 |
| A♭mMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | F becomes G | 3 |
| A♭dim7 | 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭♭7 | E♭ becomes E♭♭ | 3 |
| A♭6 | 1 3 5 6 | C♭ becomes C | 3 |
| A♭m9 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9 | F becomes G♭, B♭ | 3 |
| A♭ | 1 3 5 | C♭, F becomes C | 2 |
| A♭dim | 1 ♭3 ♭5 | E♭, F becomes E♭♭ | 2 |
| A♭sus2 | 1 2 5 | C♭, F becomes B♭ | 2 |
| A♭sus4 | 1 4 5 | C♭, F becomes D♭ | 2 |
| A♭maj7 | 1 3 5 7 | C♭, F becomes C, G | 2 |
| A♭7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | C♭, F becomes C, G♭ | 2 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {8, 11, 3, 5}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 3, 7, 9]
- Normal order: [3, 5, 8, 11]
- Prime form: (0258)
- Forte number: 4-27
- Interval vector: <012111>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A♭3 | 56 | 207.65 Hz |
| C♭3 | 59 | 246.94 Hz |
| E♭4 | 63 | 311.13 Hz |
| F4 | 65 | 349.23 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in A♭m6?

A♭m6 contains A♭, C♭, E♭ and F. The formula is 1, ♭3, 5, 6.

### How do you play A♭m6 on piano?

Play A♭, C♭, E♭ and F together. Right hand fingers 2, 3, 4, 5; left hand 5, 4, 3, 2. A♭ and E♭ are black keys; C♭ and F are white.

### What are the inversions of A♭m6?

4 positions: root position A♭ C♭ E♭ F, A♭m6/C♭, A♭m6/E♭, A♭m6/F.

### What is the difference between A♭m6 and A♭m?

Drops F. 3 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy A♭m6 for small hands?

The guide tones, ♭3 and 6 voicing, C♭3 F4, spans 6 semitones or about 83 mm.

### What are the frequencies of A♭m6?

From A♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 207.65, 246.94, 311.13, 349.23 Hz.

### What is the set class of A♭m6?

Prime form (0258), Forte 4-27, interval vector &lt;012111&gt;.

### How do I transpose A♭m6 to another key?

Keep the 1, ♭3, 5, 6 formula on the new root. Cm6 is C, E♭, G, A; C♯m6 is C♯, E, G♯, A♯.

### Is G♯m6 the same as A♭m6?

Enharmonically yes: the same piano keys and the same sound, spelled differently.

## Provenance

Every derived value above is computed by the piano.org theory kernel from the root, the quality and the stated parameters. Nothing is hand-entered per chord.

Machine record: https://piano.org/api/knowledge/v1/entities/chord:minor-6th:a-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12