# C♭ Minor 6th piano chord (C♭m6)

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

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/minor-6th/c-flat/
- Entity: chord:minor-6th:c-flat
- Notes: C♭ E♭♭ G♭ A♭
- Formula: 1 ♭3 5 6
- Intervals from root: P1, m3, P5, M6
- Interval stack (semitones): 3 4 2
- Also written: C♭m6, Cbm6, C♭ minor 6th
- Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre

## Construction

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

## Fingering

Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 1 on C♭, finger 2 on E♭♭, finger 3 on G♭, finger 5 on A♭. 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 | C♭ | C♭3 E♭♭4 G♭4 A♭4 | 7 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| First inversion (C♭m6/E♭♭) | E♭♭ | E♭♭4 G♭4 A♭4 C♭4 | 6/5 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Second inversion (C♭m6/G♭) | G♭ | G♭4 A♭4 C♭4 E♭♭5 | 4/3 | 8 st, 110 mm |
| Third inversion (C♭m6/A♭) | A♭ | A♭4 C♭4 E♭♭5 G♭5 | 4/2 | 10 st, 138 mm |

## Voicings (10)

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

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| C♭m | 1 ♭3 5 | drops A♭ | 3 |
| C♭m7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | A♭ becomes B♭♭ | 3 |
| C♭mMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | A♭ becomes B♭ | 3 |
| C♭dim7 | 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭♭7 | G♭ becomes G♭♭ | 3 |
| C♭6 | 1 3 5 6 | E♭♭ becomes E♭ | 3 |
| C♭m9 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9 | A♭ becomes B♭♭, D♭ | 3 |
| C♭ | 1 3 5 | E♭♭, A♭ becomes E♭ | 2 |
| C♭dim | 1 ♭3 ♭5 | G♭, A♭ becomes G♭♭ | 2 |
| C♭sus2 | 1 2 5 | E♭♭, A♭ becomes D♭ | 2 |
| C♭sus4 | 1 4 5 | E♭♭, A♭ becomes F♭ | 2 |
| C♭maj7 | 1 3 5 7 | E♭♭, A♭ becomes E♭, B♭ | 2 |
| C♭7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | E♭♭, A♭ becomes E♭, B♭♭ | 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| C♭3 | 59 | 246.94 Hz |
| E♭♭4 | 62 | 293.66 Hz |
| G♭4 | 66 | 369.99 Hz |
| A♭4 | 68 | 415.30 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in C♭m6?

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

### How do you play C♭m6 on piano?

Play C♭, E♭♭, G♭ and A♭ together. Right hand fingers 1, 2, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 2, 1. G♭ and A♭ are black keys; C♭ and E♭♭ are white.

### What are the inversions of C♭m6?

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

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

Drops A♭. 3 of the notes are shared.

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

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

### What are the frequencies of C♭m6?

From C♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 246.94, 293.66, 369.99, 415.30 Hz.

### What is the set class of C♭m6?

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

### How do I transpose C♭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 Bm6 the same as C♭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:c-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12