F#6 guitar chord
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About F#6 — 6th in bass
F#6 is F#, A#, C# and D# — F# 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.
Tonic — an ending chord.
F#6 notes and formula
| F# | A# | C# | D# |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
Also written F#maj6, F#M6 or F# major 6. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play F#6
F#6 in 6th in bass puts D# in the bass instead of F#, the 6th of the chord. The notes are the same; what changes is what the bass line does, which is most of why you would reach for it — it lets the lowest voice move by step where the root would have jumped.
One of F#6’s 10 common shapes does this:11-13-11-11-14-11
Play F#6 as a shell — root, third and seventh — and the spare string takes the 9 (G#) or the #11 (B#).
All 10 common shapes as fret numbers, lowest string first. Hover or tap one to see it drawn.
- 2x132x, 1st fret, F#, root position, top note C#, all fretted
- 2x4342, 2nd fret, F#, root position, top note F#, all fretted
- 24x342, 2nd fret, F#, root position, top note F#, all fretted
- xx4646, 4th fret, F#, root position, top note A#, all fretted
- x9887x, 7th fret, F#, root position, top note F#, all fretted
- x-9-11-11-11-11, 9th fret, F#, root position, top note D#, barred
- x-13-11-11-11-11, 11th fret, A#, 1st inversion, top note D#, barred
- 14-13-13-11-11-11, 11th fret, F#, root position, top note D#, barred
- 11-13-11-11-14-11, 11th fret, D#, 6th in the bass, top note D#, barred
- 14-x-13-15-14-x, 13th fret, F#, root position, top note C#, all fretted
How to use F#6
How you get to it. The turn that lands on F#6 is G#m7 to C#7 — the ii and the V of F# — and C#7 shares its third and seventh with G#m7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of F#6 belongs to C# major (the IV), Eb minor (the ♭III), F# major (the I), Ab minor (the ♭VII), Bb minor (the ♭VI) and B major (the V).
What to play over F#6
Every note of F#6 is in F# major pentatonic, F# major, F# lydian, F# mixolydian and F# lydian dominant.
Chords near F#6
Change one note of F#6 and you have F# (drop the sixth), F#maj7 (the sixth becomes the major seventh), F#m6 (the major third becomes the minor third), F#add9 (the sixth becomes the ninth), F#69 (add the ninth) or F#7 (the sixth becomes the flat seventh).
F#6 is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.