Minor sixth
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A minor sixth is the smaller of two commonly occurring musical intervals that span six diatonic scale degrees. The prefix 'minor' identifies it as being the smaller of the two (by one semitone); its larger counterpart being a major sixth. The minor 6th is abbreviated as m6, its inversion is the Major third and its enharmonic equivalent is the augmented fifth. Its most common occurrence is between the third and (upper) root of major chords.
A minor sixth in just intonation most often corresponds to a pitch ratio of 8:5 or 1:1.6, or various other ratios, while in an equal tempered tuning, a minor sixth is equal to eight semitones, a ratio of 1:28/12 (approximately 1.587), or 800 cents, 13.686 cents smaller. The ratios of both Major and minor sixths are corresponding numbers of the Fibonacci sequence, 5 and 8 for a minor sixth and 3 and 5 for a major.
The minor sixth is one of the most consonant intervals after the unison, octave, perfect fifth, and perfect fourth. In the common practice period, sixths were considered interesting and dynamic consonances along with their inverses the thirds, but in medieval times they were considered dissonances unusable in a stable final sonority.
See also
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