Interval · M6 · 9 half steps
The major sixth
A major sixth is 9 half steps wide, spanning six letter names: C to A. Warm and open: My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean.
- Half steps9
- Letter names6
- From CC–A
- Inverts tominor third
The major sixth on the staff
An interval’s number counts letter names from the bottom note to the top, both included: C, D, E, F, G and A is six, a sixth. On the staff, one note is on a line and the other in a space: from a line, it lands in the third space up; from a space, on the third line up.
The number alone doesn’t make it a major sixth: major means exactly 9 half steps. Check for sharps and flats, including the key signature: C–A is a major sixth, but change one note by a half step and the same sixth on the staff becomes a minor sixth or something rarer.
Each example below plays the two notes one after the other (a melodic interval), then together (a harmonic interval).
On the piano
Count half steps: every key, black or white, is one half step from the next. From middle C, the major sixth is the 9th key up, A.
A sixth up skips four white keys. C–A, D–B, F–D and G–E are major sixths; E–C, A–F and B–G are a half step smaller (minor).
On the white keys alone, the major sixths are C–A, D–B, F–D and G–E.
How a major sixth sounds
A major sixth sounds warm, sweet and open: a big, friendly leap. Played together, it’s a soft, full sound, and in thirds-and-sixths writing it’s the sixth that makes the harmony sound lush.
In harmony, it’s an imperfect consonance: sweet and settled, with a colour (major or minor).
Tunes that start with it
- My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean starts with a major sixth up: “My Bon-”.
- The NBC chimes are G up to E (a major sixth), then down to C.
Hum the tune’s first two notes and you have the interval: a quick way to sing one before you play it.
Where you’ll meet it
A major sixth is a minor third turned upside down: A up to C is a minor third, so C up to A is a major sixth. In C major, G up to E is a major sixth: the outer notes of the chord played as G–C–E (second inversion). Right-hand melodies are often harmonised a sixth below.
Turned upside down, with the bottom note moved up an octave, a major sixth becomes a minor third: 9 and 3 half steps make an octave, and the letter numbers always add up to nine (6 + 3).
To read it fast in real music, practise intervals the way you read words: as shapes. Level 17: thirds and sixths in the free sight-reading exercises has plenty of them.
Quiz: the major sixth
Ten questions: name the interval on the staff, among its neighbours, and play a major sixth above a written note on the piano below, a MIDI keyboard or your computer keys.
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A major sixth above every note
| From | A major sixth up |
|---|---|
| C | A |
| C♯ | A♯ |
| D | B |
| E♭ | C |
| E | C♯ |
| F | D |
| F♯ | D♯ |
| G | E |
| A♭ | F |
| A | F♯ |
| B♭ | G |
| B | G♯ |
Each one is spelt with the 6th letter up, which is why some need a sharp or flat that looks unusual, like C♯ up to A♯.
Questions
How many half steps are in a major sixth?
9 half steps. Count every key, black and white, from the bottom note up to the top one: C to A is a major sixth.
What is a major sixth above C?
A. It’s spelt with the 6th letter up from C (C, D, E, F, G and A).
What is the inversion of a major sixth?
A minor third. Move the bottom note up an octave and the nine half steps become three: major sixth and minor third add up to an octave.
How do you recognise a major sixth on the staff?
One note is on a line and the other in a space: from a line, it lands in the third space up; from a space, on the third line up. That tells you the letter distance; then check the sharps, flats and key signature to tell major from minor.
What song starts with a major sixth?
My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean starts with a major sixth up: “My Bon-”.
Hear every interval in real music
Pianomi, a free sight-reading app for piano, writes new pieces at your level and listens to your MIDI keyboard, so intervals become shapes you read without counting.