Em6 Chord on Guitar

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

Em6 is a minor sixth chord made of 4 notes: E, G, B, C♯. It sounds bittersweet, a little mysterious, and you hear it in gypsy jazz, film music and minor-key endings. It is the i chord of E minor and turns up in 5 other keys.

The library above opens on Em6 with 14 shapes up and down the neck. Tap a shape to hear it, or play it one string at a time.

Notes in Em6

Note	Degree	Interval from E	Semitones
E	1	root	0
G	♭3	minor third	3
B	5	perfect fifth	7
C♯	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 Em6

Open positionBeginner022020

Open positionBeginner042003

Open positionBeginnerxx2023

Open positionEasy04x000

Fret 4Beginner04540x

Open positionEasy04x02x

Open position (root on the 6th string), step by step

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

Tips

The open position shape is the one to learn first. Once it is easy, try the shape at the 5th fret (x756xx): the same chord, higher and brighter, handy when the chords before and after it sit up the neck.

Keys and progressions with Em6

Em6 belongs to 6 keys: iii in C major, ii in D major, vi in G major, i in E minor, v in A minor, iv in B minor. In E minor, try i–VI–III–VII: Em6 – C – G – D.