E6 guitar chord
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.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About E6 — shell voicings
E6 is E, G#, B and C# — E with a major sixth added on top.
It sounds warm, and finished without being sweet. It closes a tune as firmly as the triad does but without the maj7’s shine, which is why so many standards end on one.
E6 notes and formula
| E | G# | B | C# |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
Tonic — an ending chord.
Also written Emaj6, EM6 or E major 6. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play E6
Root, third and seventh. The third and seventh, the guide tones, are what make the chord major, minor or dominant, so the fifth can go: it says nothing the symbol needs.
Three notes means a spare string, which is the real point. Put a tension on it.
E6 has 5 of them, on the bottom three strings, the low-middle three, strings 5-3-2 and strings 6-4-3, from the 4th fret up to the 11th — all in one inversion, so the bass note never moves. The one to learn first is the E shape at the 4th fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with xx2424 — no barre and down at the nut. 2 of the 11 shapes here sit in open position. 6 of the 11 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 022120 | open position | E, root position | E | barred |
| 022424 | open position | E, root position | G# | barred |
| xx2424 | 2nd fret | E, root position | G# | all fretted |
| x7665x | 5th fret | E, root position | E | all fretted |
| x79999 | 7th fret | E, root position | C# | barred |
| x-11-9-9-9-9 | 9th fret | G#, 1st inversion | C# | barred |
| 12-11-11-9-9-9 | 9th fret | E, root position | C# | barred |
| 9-11-9-9-12-9 | 9th fret | C#, 6th in the bass | C# | barred |
| 12-x-11-13-12-x | 11th fret | E, root position | B | all fretted |
| 12-x-14-13-14-12 | 12th fret | E, root position | E | all fretted |
| 12-14-x-13-14-12 | 12th fret | E, root position | E | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 13 drop 2, 9 drop 3 and 3 open string voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of E6, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 9 (F#) and the #11 (A#).
How to use E6
How you get to it. The turn that lands on E6 is F#m7 to B7 — the ii and the V of E — and B7 shares its third and seventh with F#m7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of E6 belongs to C# minor (the ♭III), E major (the I), F# minor (the ♭VII), Ab minor (the ♭VI), A major (the V) and B major (the IV).
What to play over E6
Every note of E6 is in E major pentatonic, E major, E lydian, E mixolydian and E lydian dominant.
Chords near E6
Change one note of E6 and you have E (drop the sixth), Emaj7 (the sixth becomes a major seventh), Em6 (the major third becomes a minor third), Eadd9 (the sixth becomes a ninth), E69 (add the ninth) or E7 (the sixth becomes a flat seventh).
E6 is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On E6’s sound and use this page follows Mark Levine, The Jazz Piano Book (Sher Music, 1989). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.