F Major 6th
6
0 - 4 - 7 - 9Major + major 6th
About F Major 6th
F6 is a barre chord that sounds gentler than it feels: the sixth softens the triad, but the shape still lives at the first fret. The hand does the same work as for plain F, with one finger repositioned.
The notes
F, A, C, D. The D is a major sixth above the root and adds warmth without tension. Nothing in the chord pulls, which is why it works as an ending.
Read the same notes from D and the chord becomes D minor seventh. That equivalence matters in arrangement: a bass moving from F down to D changes the chord’s name and nothing else.
The sixth also explains why the chord resists inversion on guitar: move the D below the F and the ear stops hearing F6 and starts hearing D minor seventh, so voicings keep the root at the bottom more strictly than most chords require.
On the fretboard
The four-string version starting at the third fret of the D string avoids the barre entirely and is the practical choice for most players. The full first-fret shape is fuller and considerably harder.
Higher up, the F6 grip at the eighth fret with the root on the A string is the swing voicing — compact, mutable, and easy to alternate with F9 in a rhythm part.
Where it shows up
As a tonic in F major, mostly at the end of phrases in jazz and swing. It also appears in the key of C as a IV chord with added colour, where plain F would sound blunter.
Because F is a common key for horns and voices, this chord turns up in arrangements that came from elsewhere — and the four-string shape is what makes it playable at speed.