Major 6th

9 semitones — warm and sweet, the inversion of the minor 3rd

Degree 6Solfège: laNotation: M6

The major 6th is an interval of 9 semitones — the inversion of the minor 3rd. It is consonant — warm and gently bright. With the 2nd, it is one of the two notes added when expanding a major triad into the major pentatonic, and the raised 6th that distinguishes dorian from aeolian.

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The instrumentTap a note to hear it.
The major 6th in the harmonic series
f2f3f3f completes 3 cycles in one period of the sum3 cycles4f5f5f completes 5 cycles in one period of the sum5 cycles6f7f8f9f10f11f12f13f14f15f16fsum5:3 — the higher note vibrates 5 times for every 3 of the lower: harmonics 5 and 3 of one fundamental5:316¢ — this pure ratio is 16 cents narrower than the equal-tempered major 6th an instrument plays; a semitone is 100 cents−16¢6: the major 6th — the interval's degree above the root, as the app writes it6The sum repeats every 3 cycles of 3f — the shorter this is, the more simply the two notes fit together, and the more consonant the intervalrepeats every 3 cycles16 cycles of 3f
Harmonic seriesEach row is one harmonic of the note — n times the fundamental's frequency, about 1/n of its strength — faster and fainter as it climbs. The rows in ink are where the chosen interval first arises. The bottom row is the one your ear actually receives: those rows added, a single wave. The shaded band is one repeat of it — the shorter that pattern, the sooner the ear settles on it as one sound. Harmonics 3 and 5 — the ratio 5:3: a major 6th. Together they repeat every 3 cycles of the lower note — the shorter that pattern, the sooner your ear has heard it come round enough times to settle on one sound. Equal temperament tunes it 16¢ wider.

Related

Contained byIntervalsRelatedSolfègeMajor PentatonicDorianMinor 3rdConsonance