Modal Runs

B6 Chord (Major 6th)

The major 6th chord adds a 6th to a plain major triad — root, 3rd, 5th, 6th — an alternative colour to maj7 with a different feel. The notes of B6 are B, D#, F#, G#.

A retro, doo-wop and vintage-pop sound: it resolves as cleanly as a major triad but carries a rounder, less tense flavour than maj7.

B6 voicings on guitar

Every playable, root-in-the-bass grip standard tuning offers, computed from the chord’s own formula — not a fixed shape library.

1fr ×
Fret 1
1fr ×
Fret 1
4fr
Fret 4
9fr × ×
Fret 9
Hear B6 against a drone →Free, in your browser. See every voicing on the full neck.

Swap it in wherever you’d use maj7 as an ending chord — the 6th resolves a tune with less "still floating" ambiguity than a major 7th does.

Formula and intervals

R - 3 - 5 - 6 — 4 notes.

Scales that fit B6

Every scale below contains all of this chord’s notes — safe territory to improvise in over it.

Also compatible: Major Pentatonic, Major Blues, Diminished (HW).

Other extended on B