G6 guitar chord
The standard grips this chord is usually shown with.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About G6 — 1st inversion
G6 is G, B, D and E — G 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.
G6 notes and formula
| G | B | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
Also written Gmaj6, GM6 or G major 6. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play G6
G6 in 1st inversion puts B in the bass instead of G, the 3rd 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 G6’s 10 common shapes does this:x-14-12-12-12-12
Play G6 as a shell — root, third and seventh — and the spare string takes the 9 (A) or the #11 (C#).
All 10 common shapes as fret numbers, lowest string first. Hover or tap one to see it drawn.
- 320000, open position, G, root position, top note E, 4 open strings
- 3x243x, 2nd fret, G, root position, top note D, all fretted
- 3x5453, 3rd fret, G, root position, top note G, all fretted
- 35x453, 3rd fret, G, root position, top note G, all fretted
- xx5757, 5th fret, G, root position, top note B, all fretted
- x-10-9-9-8-x, 8th fret, G, root position, top note G, all fretted
- x-10-12-12-12-12, 10th fret, G, root position, top note E, barred
- x-14-12-12-12-12, 12th fret, B, 1st inversion, top note E, barred
- 15-14-14-12-12-12, 12th fret, G, root position, top note E, barred
- 12-14-12-12-15-12, 12th fret, E, 6th in the bass, top note E, barred
How to use G6
How you get to it. The turn that lands on G6 is Am7 to D7 — the ii and the V of G — and D7 shares its third and seventh with Am7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of G6 belongs to C major (the V), D major (the IV), E minor (the ♭III), G major (the I), A minor (the ♭VII) and B minor (the ♭VI).
What to play over G6
Every note of G6 is in G major pentatonic, G major, G lydian, G mixolydian and G lydian dominant.
Chords near G6
Change one note of G6 and you have G (drop the sixth), Gmaj7 (the sixth becomes the major seventh), Gm6 (the major third becomes the minor third), Gadd9 (the sixth becomes the ninth), G69 (add the ninth) or G7 (the sixth becomes the flat seventh).
G6 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.