What Are Minor 6th Arpeggios?

Minor 6 arpeggios are made up of four notes, root (1), minor third (b3), perfect fifth (5) and sixth (6). They are built in the same way as minor 7 arpeggios but they contain a 6 instead of a 7.

How To Build a Minor 6 Arpeggio?

There are two ways to understand how minor 6 arpeggios are built. The first way is to take a minor triad (1-b3-5) and add a 6th.

Minor triad + 6th 1 b3 5 6 D minor 6 arpeggio D F A B

The second way is to take the first (1), third (b3), fifth (5) and sixth (6) note of the Dorian mode.

D Dorian mode D E F G A B C Formula 1 2 (9) b3 4 (11) 5 6 (13) b7 D minor 6 Arpeggio 1 X b3 X 5 6 (13) X

Minor 6 Arpeggios and Related Modes

We find minor 6 arpeggios in various modes other than the Dorian mode :