6th and Minor 7th Chords

To build an F6 chord start with an F major scale and select the 1st tone (also known as the root), 3rd tone, 5th tone and 6th tone.

Here are the tones in an F major scale:

root   F
2       G
3       A
4       Bb
5       C
6       D
7       E

The tones in an F6 chord are F A C D.

To build a DMin7 chord start with a D major scale and select the 1st tone, flatted 3rd tone, 5th tone and flatted 7th tone.

Here are the tones in a D major scale:

root   D
2       E
3       F#
4       G
5       A
6       B
7       C#

The tones in a DMin7 chord are D F A C. Notice that we had to flat the 3rd (F#) and 7th (C#) tones.

So we find that the tones in an F6 and DMin7 are the same! You can use the same fingering for both sixth and minor seventh chords.

I differentiate between sixth and minor seventh chords based on the tone a bass player would probably play along with each chord.

If the progression calls for an F6 chord, a bass player would play an F tone.

If the progression calls for a DMin7 chord, a bass player would play a D tone.