A Minor 6th

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About

The Am6 chord (A–C–E–F♯) pairs a minor third with a natural (major) sixth, creating an unusual tension between the dark minor quality and the unexpectedly bright sixth. This combination implies the melodic minor scale, where the natural 6th and natural 7th distinguish it from natural minor. The m6 chord is commonly used as a tonic minor in jazz — often preferred over Am7 when a composer wants to avoid the subdominant connotations of the ♭7. The F♯ is the chord’s defining color and must be present; the 5th can be dropped. Compared to Am7, m6 is less bluesy and more harmonically specific.