What is the A Major 6 Chord?
Learning the A Major 6 chord tones gives you a set of notes to outline this harmony in bass lines and arpeggios.
Notes and Arpeggios
Major 6th chords add the major 6th to a major triad, giving them a sweet, vintage quality that's less "jazzy" than a major 7th but more colorful than a straight triad. They're classic in jazz standards, swing, and Hawaiian music. The complete chord tones are: A, C#, E, F#. The complete formula is 1, 3, 5, and 6.
How to Use It
This color is common in jazz standards and soul/R&B progressions. On bass, outline the harmony one note at a time. Start from the root and add the chord's actual degrees (3, 5, and 6) as the arrangement allows. The chord-tone boxes locate notes; the ordered arpeggio gives a playable route with explicit position shifts.
Connect this chord to the next harmony using nearby chord tones. Shift the hand when the line needs it rather than stretching beyond a comfortable position. Use the highlights to spot where the same tone repeats across strings.