Modal Runs

D6 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 D6 are D, F#, A, B.

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.

D6 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.

2fr × ×
Fret 2
4fr ×
Fret 4
7fr
Fret 7
12fr × ×
Fret 12
Hear D6 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 D6

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 D