Minor 6th

8 semitones — dark and yearning, the inversion of the major 3rd

Degree ♭6Solfège: leNotation: m6

The minor 6th is an interval of 8 semitones — the inversion of the major 3rd. It is mildly dissonant — dark and yearning. Absent from both the major and minor pentatonics, it is a signature note of aeolian (distinguishing it from dorian) and of phrygian.

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The instrumentTap a note to hear it.
The minor 6th in the harmonic series
f2f3f4f5f5f completes 5 cycles in one period of the sum5 cycles6f7f8f8f completes 8 cycles in one period of the sum8 cycles9f10f11f12f13f14f15f16fsum8:5 — the higher note vibrates 8 times for every 5 of the lower: harmonics 8 and 5 of one fundamental8:514¢ — this pure ratio is 14 cents wider than the equal-tempered minor 6th an instrument plays; a semitone is 100 cents+14¢♭6: the minor 6th — the interval's degree above the root, as the app writes it♭6The sum repeats every 5 cycles of 5f — the shorter this is, the more simply the two notes fit together, and the more consonant the intervalrepeats every 5 cycles16 cycles of 5f
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 5 and 8 — the ratio 8:5: a minor 6th. Together they repeat every 5 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 14¢ narrower.

Related

Contained byIntervalsRelatedSolfègeAeolian (Natural Minor)PhrygianMajor 3rdDissonance