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The B6 chord on guitar: B major sixth, open shape to barre

B6 is B major with a G# on top. That one note makes the chord warmer and a little vintage, without the pull of a B7. The surprise is that B6 is easier to play than B major itself: there is an open shape with no barre, close to the B7 you may already know. Start there, then take the movable shapes up the neck.

B6 chord: notes and shapes at a glance

  • Name: B major sixth
  • Symbol: B6
  • Notes: B, D#, F#, G#

Each shape below is written from the thickest string to the thinnest: a number is the fret, 0 an open string, x a string you do not play. New to this? See how to read chord diagrams.

Shape Frets, low E to high E Notes, low to high What it is for
B6, open x21102 B D# G# B F# The easiest B6: no barre, the open B string ringing in the middle. All four notes.
B6, A6 shape x24444 B F# B D# G# The A6 shape moved up two frets. The third finger lies flat across the top four strings at fret 4.
B6, compact 7x687x B G# D# F# Four notes, one per finger, the A string muted. The jazz voicing, with the root on the low E.
B6, seventh fret barre 799897 B F# B D# G# B B major barred at the seventh fret with G# added on the B string. Six strings, and a real stretch.
B6, open x 2 1 1 0 2 · 2 1 3 · 4 fingers
B6, A6 shape x 2 4 4 4 4 · 1 3 3 3 3 fingers
B6, compact 7 x 6 8 7 x 2 · 1 4 3 · fingers
B6, seventh fret barre 7 9 9 8 9 7 1 3 3 2 4 1 fingers

Read each diagram from the thickest string on the left to the thinnest on the right. A cross means the string is not played, a circle means it rings open.

B6 on the neck: every B, D#, F#, G#

Standard tuning, frets 0 to 12. The highlighted notes are the notes of B6: any shape you build from them, anywhere on the neck, is still B6.

Fretboard notes
Swipe the fretboard sideways to see every fret.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1 - E
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
D#
E
2 - B
B
C
C#
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
A#
B
3 - G
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
4 - D
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
5 - A
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
6 - E
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
D#
E

How to play the open B6

The open shape is x21102. Read it from the thickest string: the low E is muted, then A at fret 2, D at fret 1, G at fret 1, B open, high E at fret 2.

  1. Second finger on the A string at fret 2: B, the root.
  2. First finger on the D string at fret 1: D#, the major third.
  3. Third finger on the G string at fret 1: G#, the sixth.
  4. Fourth finger on the high E at fret 2: F#, the fifth.
  5. Leave the B string open. It doubles the root in the middle.

Some players cover the D and G strings with the first finger alone, a small barre at fret 1, which frees the third finger for the high E. Try both: the four finger version keeps the open B string clearer.

If you know B7 (x21202), B6 is one finger away: the note on the G string drops from fret 2 to fret 1, A becomes G#, and the chord goes from restless to relaxed.

B6 next to B, Bmaj7 and B7

Four B chords, each one a single note away from the others. The note that changes is the one that sits above the fifth.

Chord Added note Shape What it does
B none x24442 Plain major
B6 G#, the sixth x24444 Warm, at rest, a little retro
Bmaj7 A#, the major seventh x24342 Soft and floating
B7 A, the minor seventh x24242 Tense, pulls to E

From B to B6 with the barre, only the high E moves: x24442 becomes x24444 when the fourth finger, or the flat third finger, reaches fret 4. F# on top becomes G#. Rock and roll players rock between those two shapes all night.

B6 and G#m7: same notes, different bass

B6 is B, D#, F#, G#. G#m7 is G#, B, D#, F#. Same four notes. Every major sixth chord shares its notes with the minor seventh chord built on its sixth, and the bass note decides which one you hear.

The compact shape 7x687x keeps B on the low E string, so it is B6. Take away that low B and play xx6877: G# on the D string becomes the lowest note, and the same fingers now sound like G#m7. That is why the shapes on this page always put B in the bass. The same pair exists for every sixth chord: E6 and C#m7, A6 and F#m7, D6 and Bm7.

Changes to practice with B6

B6 is a resting chord, so it usually comes at the end of a phrase in B. These three progressions all land on it.

Progression Shapes What to listen for
B, B6 x24442 to x24444 The top note rising from F# to G#, nothing else.
E, F#7, B6 022100, 242322, x21102 IV, V7, I in B. F#7 pulls, B6 answers.
C#m7, F#7, B6 x46454, 242322, x21102 The ii V I of B major, with a jazzy landing.

Frequently asked questions

How do you play B6 on guitar?
Play x21102: second finger on the A string at fret 2, first finger on the D string at fret 1, third finger on the G string at fret 1, leave the B string open, fourth finger on the high E at fret 2. Do not play the low E. It is a complete B6 with no barre.
What notes are in a B6 chord?
Four: B, D#, F# and G#. That is B major (B, D#, F#) plus G#, the major sixth. The sixth adds warmth without the tension of a seventh.
Is B6 the same as G#m7?
Same four notes, different chord. G#m7 is G#, B, D# and F#. What decides is the bass: with B at the bottom you hear B6, with G# at the bottom you hear G#m7. That is why the shapes on this page all start on B.
What is the difference between B6 and B7?
B6 adds G#, B7 adds A. G# is gentle and lets the chord rest, so B6 can end a song in B. A is tense and pushes toward E, so B7 almost never ends anything.
Why is it D# and not Eb in B6?
Because it is the third of B, and the third of B is a kind of D. D# and Eb are the same fret on the guitar; the name tells you the job the note does in the chord.
Yohann Abbou, guitar teacher and founder of Guitar Social Club

Who made this

Guitar Social Club is the work of Yohann Abbou, a guitar teacher in Paris who teaches adults. Every shape on this page is written string by string and checked against standard tuning, and the diagrams are drawn from those same fret numbers. The rest of our free guitar tools, including the chord finder, work the same way.

More about Yohann on his page, and about why Guitar Social Club exists.