# C Minor 6th piano chord (Cm6)

Cm6 contains C, E♭, G and A. A minor triad with the sixth added on top. E♭ is a black key; C, G and A are white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/minor-6th/c/
- Entity: chord:minor-6th:c
- 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: Cm6, Cm6, 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 | C3 E♭3 G3 A3 | 7 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| First inversion (Cm6/E♭) | E♭ | E♭3 G3 A3 C4 | 6/5 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Second inversion (Cm6/G) | G | G3 A3 C4 E♭4 | 4/3 | 8 st, 110 mm |
| Third inversion (Cm6/A) | A | A3 C4 E♭4 G4 | 4/2 | 10 st, 138 mm |

## Voicings (10)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | C3 E♭3 G3 A3 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | E♭3 G3 A3 C4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | G3 A3 C4 E♭4 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Close, third inversion | A3 C4 E♭4 G4 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 | G2 C3 E♭3 A3 | 14 st, 193 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 3 | E♭2 C3 G3 A3 | 18 st, 248 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 and 4 | C2 G2 E♭3 A3 | 21 st, 289 mm | identical | none |
| Shell, root 6 ♭3 | C2 A2 E♭3 | 15 st, 206 mm | subset | omits G |
| Guide tones, ♭3 and 6 | E♭3 A3 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits C and G |
| Rootless close | E♭3 G3 A3 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits C |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Cm | 1 ♭3 5 | drops A | 3 |
| Cm7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | A becomes B♭ | 3 |
| CmMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | A becomes B | 3 |
| Cdim7 | 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭♭7 | G becomes G♭ | 3 |
| C6 | 1 3 5 6 | E♭ becomes E | 3 |
| Cm9 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9 | A becomes B♭, D | 3 |
| C | 1 3 5 | E♭, A becomes E | 2 |
| Cdim | 1 ♭3 ♭5 | G, A becomes G♭ | 2 |
| Csus2 | 1 2 5 | E♭, A becomes D | 2 |
| Csus4 | 1 4 5 | E♭, A becomes F | 2 |
| Cmaj7 | 1 3 5 7 | E♭, A becomes E, B | 2 |
| C7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | E♭, A becomes E, B♭ | 2 |

## Set theory

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

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| C3 | 48 | 130.81 Hz |
| E♭3 | 51 | 155.56 Hz |
| G3 | 55 | 196.00 Hz |
| A3 | 57 | 220.00 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in Cm6?

Cm6 contains C, E♭, G and A. The formula is 1, ♭3, 5, 6.

### How do you play Cm6 on piano?

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

### What are the inversions of Cm6?

4 positions: root position C E♭ G A, Cm6/E♭, Cm6/G, Cm6/A.

### What is the difference between Cm6 and Cm?

Drops A. 3 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy Cm6 for small hands?

The guide tones, ♭3 and 6 voicing, E♭3 A3, spans 6 semitones or about 83 mm.

### What are the frequencies of Cm6?

From C3 at A440 in 12-TET: 130.81, 155.56, 196.00, 220.00 Hz.

### What is the set class of Cm6?

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

### How do I transpose Cm6 to another key?

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

## 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
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12