Guitar · minor sixth
Cm6 Chord on Guitar
C Minor 6th is C, Eb, G, A — the 1-b3-5-6 pattern of a minor sixth chord. There are 2 ways to play it on guitar, ranked below from easiest to hardest.
There is no open Cm6 shape on guitar — every version sits up the neck. The one marked “Movable Root-5 Shape (2nd fret)” below is the friendliest grip, so start there.
Start here — Movable Root-5 Shape (2nd fret)
Fingered low on the neck with no barre — a useful middle step between the open shape and the movable ones.
Every way to play it — 2 shapes, easiest first
Same chord in all of them. What changes is how much your hand has to do and where on the neck it sits.
Movable Root-5 Shape (2nd fret) Way 1 of 2
Movable Root-5 Shape (2nd fret)
Easiest here· advanced· the standard shape
Fingered low on the neck with no barre — a useful middle step between the open shape and the movable ones.
E Shape Barre (8th fret) Way 2 of 2
E Shape Barre (8th fret)
advanced
Barre at fret 8 — the same movable idea, further up the neck: brighter, more compact, and easier to reach if you are already playing up there.
What beginners get wrong
Moving in and out of it
The shape above: Movable Root-5 Shape (2nd fret).
Listening: each shape above has its own play button, and each one plays the notes that shape actually produces — not a generic triad.
Cm6 on other instruments
Same notes, different hands. Every link below is a real page with diagrams and audio.
Chords next door
Same root, different colour — and all of them playable on guitar.
Cm6 on Guitar — questions people ask
What is the easiest way to play Cm6 on guitar?
“Movable Root-5 Shape (2nd fret)” — which we rate advanced — is the easiest Cm6 shape on guitar. Fingered low on the neck with no barre — a useful middle step between the open shape and the movable ones. There is no open Cm6 on guitar, so a barre is unavoidable; this is the least demanding one.
What notes are in the C Minor 6th chord?
C Minor 6th is C, Eb, G, A — the 1-b3-5-6 interval pattern of a minor sixth chord. Every voicing on this page uses those notes and nothing else; they just appear in a different order and octave.
How many ways can you play Cm6 on guitar?
This page has 2 Cm6 voicings for guitar, ranked from easiest to hardest: Movable Root-5 Shape (2nd fret), E Shape Barre (8th fret). They all sound like Cm6; the differences are how hard they are to hold and how high they sit.
What can I play instead of Cm6?
The nearest stand-ins on guitar that keep the same root are Csus4, Csus2, C. They keep the root and the fifth and only change what sits in the middle, so most songs still work — but check the swap against the melody, because the note you removed may be the one the tune is singing.
Can I play Cm6 on other instruments?
Yes. Cm6 is the same set of notes everywhere; only the fingering changes. This site has diagrams and audio for it on piano, ukulele, bass, mandolin, banjo.
Learn the theory behind Cm6
The shape gets your fingers there. These explain why it sounds the way it does.
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