# B♭ Minor 6th piano chord (B♭m6)

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

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/minor-6th/b-flat/
- Entity: chord:minor-6th:b-flat
- Notes: B♭ D♭ F G
- Formula: 1 ♭3 5 6
- Intervals from root: P1, m3, P5, M6
- Interval stack (semitones): 3 4 2
- Also written: B♭m6, Bbm6, B♭ minor 6th
- Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre

## Construction

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

## Fingering

Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 2 on B♭, finger 3 on D♭, finger 4 on F, finger 5 on G. 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 | B♭ | B♭3 D♭4 F4 G4 | 7 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| First inversion (B♭m6/D♭) | D♭ | D♭4 F4 G4 B♭4 | 6/5 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Second inversion (B♭m6/F) | F | F4 G4 B♭4 D♭5 | 4/3 | 8 st, 110 mm |
| Third inversion (B♭m6/G) | G | G4 B♭4 D♭5 F5 | 4/2 | 10 st, 138 mm |

## Voicings (10)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | B♭3 D♭4 F4 G4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | D♭4 F4 G4 B♭4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | F4 G4 B♭4 D♭5 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Close, third inversion | G4 B♭4 D♭5 F5 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 | F3 B♭3 D♭4 G4 | 14 st, 193 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 3 | D♭3 B♭3 F4 G4 | 18 st, 248 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 and 4 | B♭2 F3 D♭4 G4 | 21 st, 289 mm | identical | none |
| Shell, root 6 ♭3 | B♭2 G3 D♭4 | 15 st, 206 mm | subset | omits F |
| Guide tones, ♭3 and 6 | D♭4 G4 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits B♭ and F |
| Rootless close | D♭4 F4 G4 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits B♭ |

## One-edit neighbors

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

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {10, 1, 5, 7}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 3, 7, 9]
- Normal order: [5, 7, 10, 1]
- Prime form: (0258)
- Forte number: 4-27
- Interval vector: <012111>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| B♭3 | 58 | 233.08 Hz |
| D♭4 | 61 | 277.18 Hz |
| F4 | 65 | 349.23 Hz |
| G4 | 67 | 392.00 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in B♭m6?

B♭m6 contains B♭, D♭, F and G. The formula is 1, ♭3, 5, 6.

### How do you play B♭m6 on piano?

Play B♭, D♭, F and G together. Right hand fingers 2, 3, 4, 5; left hand 5, 4, 3, 2. B♭ and D♭ are black keys; F and G are white.

### What are the inversions of B♭m6?

4 positions: root position B♭ D♭ F G, B♭m6/D♭, B♭m6/F, B♭m6/G.

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

Drops G. 3 of the notes are shared.

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

The guide tones, ♭3 and 6 voicing, D♭4 G4, spans 6 semitones or about 83 mm.

### What are the frequencies of B♭m6?

From B♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 233.08, 277.18, 349.23, 392.00 Hz.

### What is the set class of B♭m6?

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

### How do I transpose B♭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 A♯m6 the same as B♭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:b-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12