# G♭ Minor 6th piano chord (G♭m6)

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

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/minor-6th/g-flat/
- Entity: chord:minor-6th:g-flat
- Notes: G♭ B♭♭ D♭ E♭
- Formula: 1 ♭3 5 6
- Intervals from root: P1, m3, P5, M6
- Interval stack (semitones): 3 4 2
- Also written: G♭m6, Gbm6, G♭ minor 6th
- Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre

## Construction

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

## Fingering

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

## Voicings (10)

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

## One-edit neighbors

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

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {6, 9, 1, 3}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 3, 7, 9]
- Normal order: [1, 3, 6, 9]
- Prime form: (0258)
- Forte number: 4-27
- Interval vector: <012111>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| G♭3 | 54 | 185.00 Hz |
| B♭♭3 | 57 | 220.00 Hz |
| D♭4 | 61 | 277.18 Hz |
| E♭4 | 63 | 311.13 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in G♭m6?

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

### How do you play G♭m6 on piano?

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

### What are the inversions of G♭m6?

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

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

Drops E♭. 3 of the notes are shared.

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

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

### What are the frequencies of G♭m6?

From G♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 185.00, 220.00, 277.18, 311.13 Hz.

### What is the set class of G♭m6?

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

### How do I transpose G♭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 F♯m6 the same as G♭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:g-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12