G6 guitar chord
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About G6 — open string voicings
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.
G6 notes and formula
| G | B | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
Tonic — an ending chord.
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
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. It costs no finger, so it can sound a note the closed shape has none left for: a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath.
These belong to their key rather than to a shape: they cannot be moved up the neck. D, A, G and E have many; E♭ has a handful.
G6 has 6 of them, on strings 6-5-4-3-2-1, strings 6-5-4-3-2 and strings 6-4-3-2-1, from the 2nd fret up to the 6th — every inversion the chord has: G in the bass and E in the bass. The one to learn first is the E shape at the 2nd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
3 of them sit on strings 6-5-4-3-2-1, so you can run the inversions up one set without changing strings — which is the whole reason to learn them as a family rather than as separate grips.
Start with 320000 — no barre and 4 open strings. 1 of the 10 shapes here sits in open position. 4 of the 10 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 320000 | open position | G, root position | E | 4 open strings |
| 3x243x | 2nd fret | G, root position | D | all fretted |
| 3x5453 | 3rd fret | G, root position | G | all fretted |
| 35x453 | 3rd fret | G, root position | G | all fretted |
| xx5757 | 5th fret | G, root position | B | all fretted |
| x-10-9-9-8-x | 8th fret | G, root position | G | all fretted |
| x-10-12-12-12-12 | 10th fret | G, root position | E | barred |
| x-14-12-12-12-12 | 12th fret | B, 1st inversion | E | barred |
| 15-14-14-12-12-12 | 12th fret | G, root position | E | barred |
| 12-14-12-12-15-12 | 12th fret | E, 6th in the bass | E | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 5 shell, 15 drop 2 and 10 drop 3 voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of G6, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 9 (A) and the #11 (C#).
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 a major seventh), Gm6 (the major third becomes a minor third), Gadd9 (the sixth becomes a ninth), G69 (add the ninth) or G7 (the sixth becomes a flat seventh).
G6 is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On G6’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.