Am6

Am6 is A, C, E and F#, a minor sixth. The shape this page opens on is written x02212, lowest string first.

Note by note. A is the root, C is the minor third, E is the fifth and F# is the sixth.

Also written Amin6, A-6 or A minor 6. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 10 common shapes for Am6 on the guitar, and 35 derived voicings in 4 families.

One note away. Change a single note of Am6 and you have Am (with one note taken away), Adim7 (with one note moved), Am69 (with one note added), Am7 (with one note moved), AmMaj7 (with one note moved) or Amadd9 (with one note moved).

In which keys. Every note of Am6 belongs to E minor (the iv) and G major (the ii).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: x02212, xx2212, x3425x, 5x4555, 577575, xx7978, x-12-10-11-10-12, x-12-14-11-13-x, x-12-14-x-13-14, x-x-14-14-13-14.

Under the hand. 1 of the 10 shapes here sits in open position, and the first uses 1 open string with 1 left unplayed. 5 of the 10 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 14th.

Shell. Root, third and seventh: the guide tones fix the quality, so the fifth is dropped. That is what leaves a string free, so pick a tension to put on top. Am6 has 534xxx, x045xx, x-12-10-11-x-x, 5x45xx, x-12-x-11-13-x, 5-9-10-x-x-x.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. Am6 has xx2212, 2322xx, xx4555, x7757x, xx7978, 8979xx, x-9-10-9-10-x, 12-12-10-11-x-x.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. Am6 has 2x221x, x3x252, 5x455x, x7x575, 8x797x, x-9-x-9-10-8, 12-x-10-11-10-x, x-12-x-11-13-12.

Open string. An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful. Am6 has 5x4500, 57450x, 23220x, 070575, 000502, 200500.

Tensions. A shell of Am6, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 9 (B) and the 11 (D).

What kind of chord this is. Am6 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. minor chords on every root, and what they are for.

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.