C6 Chord on Guitar

1,008 guitar chords with several shapes each, finger numbers, difficulty and real sound, in any tuning.

C6 is a major sixth chord made of 4 notes: C, E, G, A. It sounds sweet and old-fashioned, and you hear it in swing, country, surf and the last chord of a jazz tune. It is the I chord of C major and turns up in 5 other keys.

The library above opens on C6 with 14 shapes up and down the neck, starting with hand-checked ones. Tap a shape to hear it, or play it one string at a time.

Notes in C6

Note	Degree	Interval from C	Semitones
C	1	root	0
E	3	major third	4
G	5	perfect fifth	7
A	6	major sixth	9

Formula: 1 – 3 – 5 – 6. On guitar the 5th is often left out of the bigger shapes without changing the chord.

How to play C6

Open positionEasyx32210

Fret 3Easyx35555

Fret 2Beginnerx322xx

E-shape barre at fret 7Easy87798x

Fret 5Beginnerxxx555

Fret 9Beginnerxx(10)9(10)x

Fret 7 (root on the 6th string), step by step

1st finger (index): 4th string, 7th fret (A, the sixth).
2nd finger (middle): 6th string, 8th fret (C, the root).
3rd finger (ring): 2nd string, 8th fret (G, the fifth).
Let the 5th string, 3rd string, 1st string ring open (A, G, E).
Strum from the 6th string across all six strings.

Tips

The fret 7 shape is the one to learn first. Once it is easy, try the shape at the 7th fret (87798x): the same chord, higher and brighter, handy when the chords before and after it sit up the neck.

Keys and progressions with C6

C6 belongs to 6 keys: I in C major, V in F major, IV in G major, VII in D minor, VI in E minor, III in A minor. In C major, try I–V–vi–IV: C6 – G – Am – F.