Bajo sexto
Encyclopedia
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
with 12 strings
Strings (music)
A string is the vibrating element that produces sound in string instruments, such as the guitar, harp, piano, and members of the violin family. Strings are lengths of a flexible material kept under tension so that they may vibrate freely, but controllably. Strings may be "plain"...
in 6 double courses
Course (music)
A course is a pair or more of adjacent strings tuned to unison or an octave and usually played together as if a single string. It may also refer to a single string normally played on its own on an instrument with other multi-string courses, for example the bass string on a nine string baroque...
, used in Mexican
Music of Mexico
The music of Mexico is very diverse and features a wide range of different musical styles. It has been influenced by a variety of cultures, most notably indigenous Mexican and European, since the Late Middle Ages...
music. It is used primarily in norteño
Norteño (music)
Norteño , also norteña or conjunto, is a genre of Mexican music. The accordion and the bajo sexto are norteño's most characteristic instruments. The norteño genre is popular in both Mexico and the United States, especially among the Mexican community...
music of northern Mexico and across the border in the music of south Texas known as "Tex-Mex
Tejano music
Tejano music or Tex-Mex music is the name given to various forms of folk and popular music originating among the Mexican-American populations of Central and Southern Texas...
", "conjunto
Conjunto
Conjunto literally translates as "group," and is regionally accepted in Texas as defining a genre of music that was born out of south Texas at the end of the 19th Century, after German settlers introduced the button accordion. The bajo sexto has come to accompany the button accordion and is...
, or "música mexicana-tejana".
A similar instrument with five courses is the bajo quinto. The manufacture of bajo quinto achieved high quality in the 19th century, in the states of Aguascalientes, Morelos, Puebla, Oaxaca, Tlaxcala and Distrito Federal.
The bajo sexto sound provides a strong rhythm in the lower pitched end of a Conjunto band and also provides a strong projection of chord changes across songs.
Bajo sextos are tuned: E,A,D,G,C,F, (from lowest to highest string)
Bajo quintos are tuned the same: A,D,G,C,F (as above)