A three-note chord consisting of a bass note with a 6th and a 3rd above it. In thoroughbass it is indicated by the figure ‘6’. In functional harmony a 6th chord is the first inversion of a major or minor triad; by itself it is a consonance, though it may be interpreted as a dissonance in some harmonic contexts (e.g. a–c'–f' resolving to a–c'–e' in A minor). Consecutive 6th chords are an important characteristic of much music of the first half of the 15th century (see Faburden).
See also Added sixth chord; Augmented sixth chord; Harmony; Inversion; Neapolitan sixth chord.