Bbm6 Guitar Chord

Bbm6 is the B flat minor sixth chord. It has four notes: B flat, D flat, F and G. There is no open shape for this one, so the main form is a full barre at the 6th fret with the root on the low E string.

The full six string minor sixth: index barred across the neck at the 6th fret, root on the low E, and the sixth up on the B string. Movable, so this one grip is any minor sixth chord.

How to play Bbm6, step by step

Index finger: press flat across the low E to high E strings at fret 6
Ring finger: lay across the A and D strings at fret 8
Pinky finger: 8th fret, B string
Strum all six strings.

Nothing in the grip is fixed to B flat. Slide it down two frets for G#m6 or up two for Cm6; whatever the low E string says under the barre is the chord.

More ways to play Bbm6

There are 2 common Bbm6 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.

Bbm6 guitar chord diagram, barre at fret 11, played x 13 11 12 11 13 — Barre at fret 11

If the barre will not behave

Strings drop out under the barre: The index has to hold the low E, D and high E strings at the 6th fret while the other fingers work above it. Roll it slightly onto its bony edge and pull back with the arm rather than squeezing the thumb.
The ring finger mutes the D string: It lays across the A and D strings at the 8th fret. Flatten it deliberately across both; if only the A sounds, the tip has curled up.
The chord sounds like a plain minor: Then the G is missing. It sits on the B string under the pinky at the 8th fret, and it is the one note that makes the chord a sixth.

What makes it a Bbm6

B♭ · D♭ · F · G 1 ♭3 5 6

Bbm6 is a B flat minor triad (B flat, D flat, F) with a G added: the major sixth, nine half steps above the root. The third is flat and the sixth is not, and that mismatch is what makes a minor sixth chord sound restless rather than simply sad.

The same four notes read from G spell Gm7b5, the half diminished chord. Bbm6 is also an Eb9 with no E flat in it, which explains why it slips so easily into progressions heading for A flat.

Bbm6 vs Bbm7

Both add a fourth note to B flat minor. Bbm7 adds an A flat and settles the chord; Bbm6 adds a G, one fret lower, and unsettles it. A semitone of difference, and the mood flips.

On the neck they are close relatives: neither has an open shape, and both live as barres in this key. The m7 is the chord pop reaches for; the m6 belongs to jazz, tango and older songwriting, where its job is to keep a minor passage moving.

Bbm6 chord questions

Is Bbm6 the same as A#m6?

Yes, one chord with two spellings. Flat keys are the natural home of this chord, so B flat is the name used here.

What is the difference between Bbm6 and Bbm7?

One note. Bbm7 has an A flat, Bbm6 has a G, one fret lower. The seventh relaxes the chord, the sixth sharpens it.

Is Bbm6 the same as Gm7b5?

The four notes are the same: B flat, D flat, F and G. With B flat in the bass you hear Bbm6; with G in the bass you hear Gm7b5, the half diminished chord.

Is there a Bbm6 without the full barre?

The second shape on this page skips the low E and bars only two strings with the index, but it sits at the 11th fret, so the six string barre at the 6th is usually the practical choice.

Where is Bbm6 used?

As the iv chord in F, as a colour on the tonic in B flat minor, and all over jazz and older popular song, where minor sixths routinely stand in for minor sevenths.