# B Minor 6th piano chord (Bm6)

Bm6 contains B, D, F♯ and G♯. A minor triad with the sixth added on top. F♯ and G♯ are black keys; B and D are white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/minor-6th/b/
- Entity: chord:minor-6th:b
- 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: Bm6, Bm6, 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 1 on B, finger 2 on D, finger 3 on F♯, finger 5 on G♯. 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 | B | B3 D4 F♯4 G♯4 | 7 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| First inversion (Bm6/D) | D | D4 F♯4 G♯4 B4 | 6/5 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Second inversion (Bm6/F♯) | F♯ | F♯4 G♯4 B4 D5 | 4/3 | 8 st, 110 mm |
| Third inversion (Bm6/G♯) | G♯ | G♯4 B4 D5 F♯5 | 4/2 | 10 st, 138 mm |

## Voicings (10)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | B3 D4 F♯4 G♯4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | D4 F♯4 G♯4 B4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | F♯4 G♯4 B4 D5 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Close, third inversion | G♯4 B4 D5 F♯5 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 | F♯3 B3 D4 G♯4 | 14 st, 193 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 3 | D3 B3 F♯4 G♯4 | 18 st, 248 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 and 4 | B2 F♯3 D4 G♯4 | 21 st, 289 mm | identical | none |
| Shell, root 6 ♭3 | B2 G♯3 D4 | 15 st, 206 mm | subset | omits F♯ |
| Guide tones, ♭3 and 6 | D4 G♯4 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits B and F♯ |
| Rootless close | D4 F♯4 G♯4 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits B |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bm | 1 ♭3 5 | drops G♯ | 3 |
| Bm7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | G♯ becomes A | 3 |
| BmMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | G♯ becomes A♯ | 3 |
| Bdim7 | 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭♭7 | F♯ becomes F | 3 |
| B6 | 1 3 5 6 | D becomes D♯ | 3 |
| Bm9 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9 | G♯ becomes A, C♯ | 3 |
| B | 1 3 5 | D, G♯ becomes D♯ | 2 |
| Bdim | 1 ♭3 ♭5 | F♯, G♯ becomes F | 2 |
| Bsus2 | 1 2 5 | D, G♯ becomes C♯ | 2 |
| Bsus4 | 1 4 5 | D, G♯ becomes E | 2 |
| Bmaj7 | 1 3 5 7 | D, G♯ becomes D♯, A♯ | 2 |
| B7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | D, G♯ becomes D♯, A | 2 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {11, 2, 6, 8}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 3, 7, 9]
- Normal order: [6, 8, 11, 2]
- Prime form: (0258)
- Forte number: 4-27
- Interval vector: <012111>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| B3 | 59 | 246.94 Hz |
| D4 | 62 | 293.66 Hz |
| F♯4 | 66 | 369.99 Hz |
| G♯4 | 68 | 415.30 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in Bm6?

Bm6 contains B, D, F♯ and G♯. The formula is 1, ♭3, 5, 6.

### How do you play Bm6 on piano?

Play B, D, F♯ and G♯ together. Right hand fingers 1, 2, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 2, 1. F♯ and G♯ are black keys; B and D are white.

### What are the inversions of Bm6?

4 positions: root position B D F♯ G♯, Bm6/D, Bm6/F♯, Bm6/G♯.

### What is the difference between Bm6 and Bm?

Drops G♯. 3 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy Bm6 for small hands?

The guide tones, ♭3 and 6 voicing, D4 G♯4, spans 6 semitones or about 83 mm.

### What are the frequencies of Bm6?

From B3 at A440 in 12-TET: 246.94, 293.66, 369.99, 415.30 Hz.

### What is the set class of Bm6?

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

### How do I transpose Bm6 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 C♭m6 the same as Bm6?

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
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12