G#m♭6 — G# minor flat sixth chord
A minor triad with the sixth flattened. The flattened sixth is a semitone above the fifth, which darkens the chord compared with the plain minor sixth.
- 1 = G#
- b3 = B
- 5 = D#
- b6 = E
- Symbol
- G#m♭6
- Root
- G#
- Quality
- Minor flat sixth
- Family
- added
- Notes
- G# B D# E
- Degree formula
1 b3 5 b6- Semitones from the root
0 3 7 8- Distinct pitch classes
- 4
- Interval structure
- Stacked from the root: 3 semitones, 4 semitones, 1 semitones
- Notation
- Written m♭6. Used as a colour chord on the tonic of a minor key and as a passing chord to a minor seventh.
- Key
- G# · Ab major / F minor key signature
Formula
The chord tones in order from the root, with the interval each one forms above it.
| Degree | Note | Semitones | Interval from the root |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | G# | 0 | Perfect unison |
| b3 | B | 3 | Minor third |
| 5 | D# | 7 | Perfect fifth |
| b6 | E | 8 | Minor sixth |
Inversions
An inversion is the same set of notes with a different one in the bass. The last column gives the distance of each note above the bass note, in semitones.
| Inversion | Bass note | Degree in the bass | Notes above the bass | Semitones above the bass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| root position | G# | 1 | G# – B – D# – E | 0 3 7 8 |
| first inversion | B | b3 | B – D# – E – G# | 0 4 5 9 |
| second inversion | D# | 5 | D# – E – G# – B | 0 1 5 8 |
| third inversion | E | b6 | E – G# – B – D# | 0 4 7 11 |
Playable voicings
These shapes were found by searching the fretboard of a standard-tuned guitar (E A D G B E) rather than copied from a chord book. The search allows every string to sound or to be muted, rejects any shape with a muted string between two sounding strings, rejects any shape whose fretted notes span more than four frets (a five-fret window), requires every chord tone to be present, and then sorts what remains with root-position shapes first and the most compact, lowest shapes next. The shapes shown are the first six of that ordering; other orderings are possible at the same frets.
| # | Shape (low string first) | Notes | Degrees | Bass | Span (frets) | Sounding strings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4-2-2-4-4-4 | G# B E B D# G# | 1 b3 b6 b3 5 1 | G# | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | 4-6-6-4-5-4 | G# D# G# B E G# | 1 5 1 b3 b6 1 | G# | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 4-2-2-1-4-4 | G# B E G# D# G# | 1 b3 b6 1 5 1 | G# | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 4-7-6-4-4-4 | G# E G# B D# G# | 1 b6 1 b3 5 1 | G# | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 4-6-6-4-5-7 | G# D# G# B E B | 1 5 1 b3 b6 b3 | G# | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | 4-7-6-4-4-7 | G# E G# B D# B | 1 b6 1 b3 5 b3 | G# | 3 | 6 |
Shape numbers run from the lowest string to the highest, so the left-hand number is the sixth string (low E) in standard tuning. Multiple shapes are listed because a chord can be voiced several ways, and because a lower position is not always the better sounding one.
Related chords and scales
- KeyEverything in G#
- ScaleG# melodic minor (ascending)
- ChordG#m6
- ChordG#m
- ChordG#m7
Related
- ChordG#m6 — Minor sixth
- ChordG#m — Minor
- ChordG#m7 — Minor seventh
- ChordG#6 — Sixth
- ChordG#6/9 — Sixth added ninth
- ChordG#add9 — Added ninth
- DegreesAb — degree map
- Neck mapAb — note map