Am6 Guitar Chord

Am6 is the A minor sixth chord. It has four notes: A, C, E and F sharp. It is an A minor chord with an F sharp added, and the open shape is an Am with the pinky reaching to the 2nd fret of the high E string.

2314×AEACF♯

An open A minor with the pinky added at the 2nd fret of the high E string. Four fingers, five strings, and the shape most players learn first.

How to play Am6, step by step

  1. Index finger: 1st fret, B string
  2. Middle finger: 2nd fret, D string
  3. Ring finger: 2nd fret, G string
  4. Pinky finger: 2nd fret, high E string
  5. Leave the A string open. Strum from the A string down, skipping the low E.

Play Am, then Am6, then Am again. The F sharp on top is the only change, and hearing it clearly is the point of the exercise: a minor chord that suddenly sounds unsettled rather than sad.

More ways to play Am6

There are 2 common Am6 shapes in total: the standard one at the top of the page, plus these, easiest first. You only ever need one. Tap any card to hear it.

Barre at fret 5
Am6 guitar chord diagram, barre at fret 5, played 577575

Wide and dark, with the root doubled low down. The sixth sits inside the chord rather than on top, which is what gives it that uneasy, film music colour.

If it sounds crowded

The high E note is weak
The pinky holds it at the 2nd fret. Keep the finger curled and press with the tip; stretching it flat will mute the B string next door.
The B string is muted
The index sits at the 1st fret of the B string and the fingers above it are crowding in. Arch the hand so each fingertip stands upright.
The low E rings out
It is not part of Am6. Start the strum on the open A string so the root is the lowest note.

What makes it an Am6

A · C · E · F♯ 1 ♭3 5 6

Am6 is an A minor triad (A, C, E) with an F sharp added: the major sixth, nine half steps above the root. The sixth stays major even though the chord is minor, and that mix of a flat third with a natural sixth is what makes the chord sound restless rather than sad.

The same four notes read from F sharp spell F#m7b5, the half diminished chord. Am6 is also a D9 with no D in it, which is why it works so well as the chord before a G in the key of G.

Am6 vs Am7

Both add a fourth note to A minor. Am7 adds a G and sounds soft and settled; Am6 adds an F sharp, one fret higher, and sounds tense and questioning. The two are a semitone apart and worlds apart in mood.

Am7 is the everyday chord of pop and folk. Am6 belongs to jazz, film music and older songwriting, where it usually appears as a chord passing from A minor toward something else rather than a place to sit.

Am6 chord questions

What is the difference between Am6 and Am7?

One note. Am7 has a G, Am6 has an F sharp: one fret higher and a completely different feeling. Am7 relaxes, Am6 creates tension that wants to move.

Why does a minor chord have a major sixth?

Because the sixth is measured from the major scale, not the minor third. In a minor sixth chord the third is flattened and the sixth is not, and that deliberate mismatch is the whole sound of the chord.

Is Am6 the same as F#m7b5?

The four notes are the same: A, C, E and F sharp. With A in the bass you hear Am6, with F sharp in the bass you hear F#m7b5, the half diminished chord.

Where is Am6 used?

As the iv chord in E, as a tension chord in a minor key, and throughout jazz standards, where minor sixth chords often replace minor sevenths on the tonic.

Do you strum all six strings in Am6?

No. Strum five, from the open A string down, so A stays the lowest note.

Chords to learn next

Other A chords