Major sixth
The major sixth is an interval across six degrees with nine semitones, for example C–A. It sounds bright, open and friendly and is the inversion of the minor third. In just intonation it has the ratio 5:3.
- Size
- 6 degrees, 9 semitones
- Ratio
- 5:3 (just intonation)
- Inversion of
- minor third
- Sound
- bright, open, cheerful, inviting
- On the guitar
- nine frets apart
- Counterpart
- minor sixth (8 semitones)
Bright and open
On the page Intervals it says the major sixth is the inversion of the minor third and therefore one of the warmest and most cheerful intervals. With its ratio 5:3 it sounds bright, open, cheerful and inviting. It counts as a typical “folk-song interval”: many folk melodies from all over the world begin with an ascending major sixth.
Major sixth: C to A
Six degrees from C to A, nine semitones. The A is the sixth note of the C major scale, a natural note.
For comparison: minor sixth C to A♭
Also six degrees, but only eight semitones. The A♭ instead of A makes the sixth a semitone smaller and darker.
The interval has nine semitones. The exercise page Interval Ear Training names the series: minor sixth eight, major sixth nine, minor seventh ten. Whether a sixth is major or minor is therefore decided by a single semitone.
Well-known melodies
Two well-known examples of melodies that begin with an ascending major sixth are “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” (G–E at the start) and the NBC network logo (also G–E).
The sixth in harmony
In functional harmony the major sixth is central to the sixth degree of a major key. An example from the Intervals page: in C major the tonic relative Am (Tp) is the sixth degree, whose root A lies a major sixth above C. The page Relative key says what that means: C major and A minor share all the notes.
The major sixth also plays an important part in jazz, according to the page in 6 chords such as C6, i.e. C–E–G–A. In the listening example first a C major triad sounds, then the same with an added A. In voicings with a sixth the major sixth is often the top note.
On the guitar
| Feature | Major sixth | Minor sixth |
|---|---|---|
| Semitones | 9 | 8 |
| Ratio (just) | 5:3 | 8:5 |
| Guitar, fretting the high E string | 9th fret, sounds C♯ | 8th fret, sounds C |
| Character | bright, open, cheerful | yearning, painful |
On the guitar the major sixth corresponds to nine frets apart. If you fret the high E string at the 9th fret, C♯ sounds at 554.37 Hz. In equal temperament the frequency rises by the factor 2^(9/12) ≈ 1.682; the just ratio 5:3 ≈ 1.667 would give about 549.4 Hz. Because nine frets are a large stretch, according to the page the major sixth is mostly played via a string change or a position change.
With a harmonic the major sixth can be heard pure: if you play in succession the third natural harmonic (above the 7th fret) and the fifth natural harmonic (above the 4th fret), the leap between them sounds directly as a pure, crystal-clear consonant major sixth. The connection is on the page Harmonic series: the major sixth is the distance between the third and fifth partials.
Common mistakes
- Confusing major and minor sixth: Both span six degrees, the major has nine, the minor eight semitones.
- Swapping sixth and seventh: What is counted are the degrees on the staff: the major sixth C–A has six, the seventh C–B seven.
- Wanting to fret nine frets: The guitar mostly solves the sixth via a string change.
Continue on Maikstrings
Related terms
Minor sixthMinor thirdIntervalOctaveHarmonic seriesDiatonic chordPerfect intervalsRelative key
Editor: Maik Krohm · reviewed on 3 October 2026
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