Minor sixth
A minor sixth is 8 half steps, written m6. From C it reaches A♭. Hear it one note after the other, then together.
What it sounds like
Eight half steps: a minor third turned upside down. Sweet, a little sad and yearning.
It is the ♭6 of the natural minor scale, and the augmented fifth of an augmented chord sounds the same.
How to recognise a minor sixth by ear
Sing mi up to do, or the 5th to the ♭6 and back in minor. Upward it reaches and aches a little; it's the same size as an augmented fifth, but written a letter further up.
Inside the C major scale, the minor sixths are E–C, A–F and B–G.
Add an octave and a minor sixth becomes a minor thirteenth (20 half steps), the ♭13 used on dominant chords in minor keys. Intervals bigger than an octave are called compound intervals; they keep the character of the smaller interval but sound more open.
No common chord has a minor sixth directly above its root, but it hides between other chord tones in C, Cm, C7, Cmaj7, Cm7, Cadd9.
A minor sixth from every note
The letter name moves up 5 letters (a "sixth") and the distance is always 8 half steps.
| From | Up a minor sixth | |
|---|---|---|
| C | A♭ | |
| D♭ | B𝄫 (sounds as A) | |
| D | B♭ | |
| E♭ | C♭ | |
| E | C | |
| F | D♭ | |
| F♯ | D | |
| G | E♭ | |
| A♭ | F♭ | |
| A | F | |
| B♭ | G♭ | |
| B | G |
Finding it on guitar
8 frets is a long stretch, so guitarists usually play a minor sixth across strings: on the next higher string it's 3 frets up from the starting note, and between the G and B strings add one more. The diagram starts from A on the low E string.
Other intervals
- minor second
- major second
- minor third
- major third
- perfect fourth
- tritone
- perfect fifth
- major sixth
- minor seventh
- major seventh
- octave
← perfect fifth · major sixth →
Minor sixth: questions
How many half steps is a minor sixth?
8. On the piano, count 8 keys up (black and white) from the starting note; on guitar, 8 frets up the same string.
What is a minor sixth above C?
A♭. Above G it is E♭, above D it is B♭.
Is a minor sixth consonant or dissonant?
Consonant. Eight half steps: a minor third turned upside down.
What is the inversion of a minor sixth?
A major third. Turn the interval upside down (put the lower note on top) and the two sizes always add up to 12 half steps: 8 + 4.
Spellings computed from letter names and half steps, and checked against both. Updated September 2026.