G#m6 Guitar Chord

G#m6 is the G sharp minor sixth chord. It has four notes: G sharp, B, D sharp and F. The standard shape is a full barre at the 4th fret with the root on the low E string.

The full six string minor sixth: index barred across the neck at the 4th 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 G#m6, step by step

Index finger: press flat across the low E to high E strings at fret 4
Ring finger: lay across the A and D strings at fret 6
Pinky finger: 6th fret, B string
Strum all six strings.

The grip is the movable minor sixth: at the 4th fret it is G#m6, two frets lower F#m6. Whatever the low E string plays under the barre is the chord.

More ways to play G#m6

There are 2 common G#m6 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.

G#m6 guitar chord diagram, barre at fret 9, played x 11 9 10 9 11 — Barre at fret 9

If it will not come out clean

The barre is doing too much: At the 4th fret the index covers the low E, D and high E strings. Set it just behind the fret, roll it toward its edge, and let arm weight do the pressing.
The A or D string is dead: The ring finger lays across both at the 6th fret. Flatten it across the pair; a curled tip will always drop one of them.
It sounds like a plain minor chord: The F on the B string under the pinky is the sixth. If the pinky leans or misses the 6th fret, the chord collapses back into G#m.

What makes it a G#m6

G♯ · B · D♯ · F 1 ♭3 5 6

G#m6 is a G sharp minor triad (G sharp, B, D sharp) with an F added: the major sixth, nine half steps above the root. The minor third darkens the chord and the major sixth pulls against the darkness, which is exactly the tension a minor sixth chord is for.

Read from F, the same four notes spell Fm7b5, the half diminished chord. G#m6 is also a C#9 without its root, which explains why it slips so easily into progressions heading for F sharp.

G#m6 vs G#m7

G#m7 adds an F sharp to G sharp minor and smooths it over. G#m6 adds an F, one fret lower, and the smoothness is gone: the chord sounds like a question that wants answering.

Both are barre grips at the 4th fret on this root, so neither is harder to reach than the other. The m7 is the everyday choice; the m6 is the jazz and film colour.

G#m6 chord questions

Is G#m6 the same as Abm6?

Yes, the same notes under two names. The minor chords on this root are almost always written G sharp, so that is the spelling here.

What is the difference between G#m6 and G#m7?

One note. G#m7 has an F sharp, G#m6 has an F, one fret lower. The seventh settles the chord; the sixth unsettles it.

Is G#m6 the same as Fm7b5?

Same four notes: G sharp, B, D sharp and F. G sharp in the bass makes it G#m6; F in the bass makes it the half diminished chord.

Is there an easier G#m6?

The second shape skips the low E: root on the A string at the 11th fret with a two string index barre at the 9th. Less barre, but higher up the neck.

Where is G#m6 used?

As the iv chord in E flat, on the tonic in G sharp minor, and in jazz and older popular music, where minor sixths often replace minor sevenths.

Chords to learn next

Other G# chords

G#m9