# A Minor 6th piano chord (Am6)

Am6 contains A, C, E and F♯. A minor triad with the sixth added on top. F♯ is a black key; A, C and E are white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/minor-6th/a/
- Entity: chord:minor-6th:a
- 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: Am6, Am6, 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 1 on A, finger 2 on C, finger 3 on E, finger 5 on F♯. The left hand mirrors it.
Right hand 1-2-3-5, left hand 5-3-2-1. Source: piano.org fingering method v1.

## Inversions

| Position | Bass | Notes in order | Figured bass | Span |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Root position | A | A3 C4 E4 F♯4 | 7 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| First inversion (Am6/C) | C | C4 E4 F♯4 A4 | 6/5 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Second inversion (Am6/E) | E | E4 F♯4 A4 C5 | 4/3 | 8 st, 110 mm |
| Third inversion (Am6/F♯) | F♯ | F♯4 A4 C5 E5 | 4/2 | 10 st, 138 mm |

## Voicings (10)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | A3 C4 E4 F♯4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | C4 E4 F♯4 A4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | E4 F♯4 A4 C5 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Close, third inversion | F♯4 A4 C5 E5 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 | E3 A3 C4 F♯4 | 14 st, 193 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 3 | C3 A3 E4 F♯4 | 18 st, 248 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 and 4 | A2 E3 C4 F♯4 | 21 st, 289 mm | identical | none |
| Shell, root 6 ♭3 | A2 F♯3 C4 | 15 st, 206 mm | subset | omits E |
| Guide tones, ♭3 and 6 | C4 F♯4 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits A and E |
| Rootless close | C4 E4 F♯4 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits A |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Am | 1 ♭3 5 | drops F♯ | 3 |
| Am7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | F♯ becomes G | 3 |
| AmMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | F♯ becomes G♯ | 3 |
| Adim7 | 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭♭7 | E becomes E♭ | 3 |
| A6 | 1 3 5 6 | C becomes C♯ | 3 |
| Am9 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9 | F♯ becomes G, B | 3 |
| A | 1 3 5 | C, F♯ becomes C♯ | 2 |
| Adim | 1 ♭3 ♭5 | E, F♯ becomes E♭ | 2 |
| Asus2 | 1 2 5 | C, F♯ becomes B | 2 |
| Asus4 | 1 4 5 | C, F♯ becomes D | 2 |
| Amaj7 | 1 3 5 7 | C, F♯ becomes C♯, G♯ | 2 |
| A7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | C, F♯ becomes C♯, G | 2 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {9, 0, 4, 6}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 3, 7, 9]
- Normal order: [4, 6, 9, 0]
- Prime form: (0258)
- Forte number: 4-27
- Interval vector: <012111>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A3 | 57 | 220.00 Hz |
| C4 | 60 | 261.63 Hz |
| E4 | 64 | 329.63 Hz |
| F♯4 | 66 | 369.99 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in Am6?

Am6 contains A, C, E and F♯. The formula is 1, ♭3, 5, 6.

### How do you play Am6 on piano?

Play A, C, E and F♯ together. Right hand fingers 1, 2, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 2, 1. F♯ is a black key; A, C and E are white.

### What are the inversions of Am6?

4 positions: root position A C E F♯, Am6/C, Am6/E, Am6/F♯.

### What is the difference between Am6 and Am?

Drops F♯. 3 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy Am6 for small hands?

The guide tones, ♭3 and 6 voicing, C4 F♯4, spans 6 semitones or about 83 mm.

### What are the frequencies of Am6?

From A3 at A440 in 12-TET: 220.00, 261.63, 329.63, 369.99 Hz.

### What is the set class of Am6?

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

### How do I transpose Am6 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♯.

## 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
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12