# F Minor 6th piano chord (Fm6)

Fm6 contains F, A♭, C and D. A minor triad with the sixth added on top. A♭ is a black key; F, C and D are white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/minor-6th/f/
- Entity: chord:minor-6th:f
- Notes: F A♭ C D
- Formula: 1 ♭3 5 6
- Intervals from root: P1, m3, P5, M6
- Interval stack (semitones): 3 4 2
- Also written: Fm6, Fm6, F minor 6th
- Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre

## Construction

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

## Fingering

Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 1 on F, finger 2 on A♭, finger 3 on C, finger 5 on D. 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 | F | F3 A♭3 C4 D4 | 7 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| First inversion (Fm6/A♭) | A♭ | A♭3 C4 D4 F4 | 6/5 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Second inversion (Fm6/C) | C | C4 D4 F4 A♭4 | 4/3 | 8 st, 110 mm |
| Third inversion (Fm6/D) | D | D4 F4 A♭4 C5 | 4/2 | 10 st, 138 mm |

## Voicings (10)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | F3 A♭3 C4 D4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | A♭3 C4 D4 F4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | C4 D4 F4 A♭4 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Close, third inversion | D4 F4 A♭4 C5 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 | C3 F3 A♭3 D4 | 14 st, 193 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 3 | A♭2 F3 C4 D4 | 18 st, 248 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 and 4 | F2 C3 A♭3 D4 | 21 st, 289 mm | identical | none |
| Shell, root 6 ♭3 | F2 D3 A♭3 | 15 st, 206 mm | subset | omits C |
| Guide tones, ♭3 and 6 | A♭3 D4 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits F and C |
| Rootless close | A♭3 C4 D4 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits F |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Fm | 1 ♭3 5 | drops D | 3 |
| Fm7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | D becomes E♭ | 3 |
| FmMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | D becomes E | 3 |
| Fdim7 | 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭♭7 | C becomes C♭ | 3 |
| F6 | 1 3 5 6 | A♭ becomes A | 3 |
| Fm9 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9 | D becomes E♭, G | 3 |
| F | 1 3 5 | A♭, D becomes A | 2 |
| Fdim | 1 ♭3 ♭5 | C, D becomes C♭ | 2 |
| Fsus2 | 1 2 5 | A♭, D becomes G | 2 |
| Fsus4 | 1 4 5 | A♭, D becomes B♭ | 2 |
| Fmaj7 | 1 3 5 7 | A♭, D becomes A, E | 2 |
| F7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | A♭, D becomes A, E♭ | 2 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {5, 8, 0, 2}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 3, 7, 9]
- Normal order: [0, 2, 5, 8]
- Prime form: (0258)
- Forte number: 4-27
- Interval vector: <012111>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| F3 | 53 | 174.61 Hz |
| A♭3 | 56 | 207.65 Hz |
| C4 | 60 | 261.63 Hz |
| D4 | 62 | 293.66 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in Fm6?

Fm6 contains F, A♭, C and D. The formula is 1, ♭3, 5, 6.

### How do you play Fm6 on piano?

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

### What are the inversions of Fm6?

4 positions: root position F A♭ C D, Fm6/A♭, Fm6/C, Fm6/D.

### What is the difference between Fm6 and Fm?

Drops D. 3 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy Fm6 for small hands?

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

### What are the frequencies of Fm6?

From F3 at A440 in 12-TET: 174.61, 207.65, 261.63, 293.66 Hz.

### What is the set class of Fm6?

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

### How do I transpose Fm6 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:f
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12