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Major 6th

Chord

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Major 6th

Chords

Using Major 6th Chords

Major 6th chords are used for purposes similar to major chords. Both chords can be used as transitional chords, but they are more often used as destination chords. They are chords you want to arrive at, not just pass by. As stated earlier, the Major 6th chord produces a slightly richer, more complex sound than the simple major chord.

In this next musical example, the Major 6th chord provides an almost pastoral quality to the music. Let's listen to that now:

In bar 1, the violins are playing a C Major 6th chord. In bar 2 they play a G7 chord, in 1st inversion. These two chords are then repeated in bars 3 and 4:

Notice that the Major 6th chord (C6) acts as the anchor, and the Dominant 7th chord (G7) acts as the transitional chord.

When the oboe plays the melody, it uses only notes found in the current harmony. All the melody notes in bar 1 can be found in the C Major 6th chord in bar 1. All the melody notes in bar 2 can be found in the G7 chord, also found in bar 2. The same will be true of bars 3, 4, and 5.

This technique of limiting the melody notes to only the notes of the harmony helps retain the purity of the harmony. However, keep in mind that you are by no means limited to using just the notes in your harmony to create your melody notes.