Cm6

C1E♭♭3G5A6

A minor triad with a major sixth added, which is why it is not simply a minor chord with a flat seventh.

on guitar on piano the scale

Every fingering that fits a hand

Fig. 2

5330

easy

Fig. 3

5350

easy · no 5

Fig. 4

5353

hard · no 5

Fig. 5

5756

moderate · barre

Fig. 6

535x

easy · no 5

What is true of it

Cm6 is C, E♭, G and A — 1, b3, 5 and 6 counted from C.

These are also the notes of Am7♭5/C. Which name is right depends on what is underneath and what came before — the notes alone do not decide.

On an instrument that cannot reach all 4, the 5 goes first, in that order.

The easiest of the 5 fingerings below is 5330: 3 fingers, held at the 3rd fret.

None of them uses an open string, so this chord moves up the neck unchanged — the same shape 1 fret higher is the chord a semitone above.

1 of the 5 need a barre.

Where its notes are on the neck

Fig. 7 — first 12 frets

The brass dots are C, the root. Everything else is a chord tone with its degree printed in it.

With a different note underneath

first inversion

Cm6/E♭

x353

second inversion

Cm6/G

0353

third inversion

Cm6/A

2333

An inversion is the same chord with a different note lowest. The name changes to a slash name because the bass is what a listener hears as the foundation.

C in other shapes

C6major sixth Cmajor Cmminor Cdimdiminished

C♯m6 D♭m6 Dm6 D♯m6 E♭m6 Em6 Fm6 F♯m6 all 374