Sixths · 9 semitones
Major 6th
Nine semitones — warm, sweet, and cheerful. The major 6th has a pastoral, relaxed quality and is very pleasing to the ear.
How to Hear It
How to Identify It
Warm and open — like a major 3rd but wider and more spacious. Think of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean — the first leap (My BON-nie) is a major 6th.
Famous Examples
- My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean — first upward leap
- NBC chime — three-note motif contains major 6th
- Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen — opening leap
Often Confused With
All Intervals
About the Major 6th
The Major 6th (M6) is a consonant interval spanning 9 semitones. Nine semitones — warm, sweet, and cheerful. The major 6th has a pastoral, relaxed quality and is very pleasing to the ear.
To train your ear to identify the major 6th reliably, practice hearing it in all three modes — ascending, descending, and harmonic. The ascending version is most commonly tested, but recognising it in all contexts is the mark of a trained ear. Use the trainer above to test yourself in a mixed set of all intervals.