Sextet

For other uses, see Sextet (disambiguation).
For the Mae West film with a similar name, see Sextette.
"Hexad" redirects here. For the musical term, see Hexachord.

A sextet (or hexad) is a formation containing exactly six members. It is commonly associated with vocal or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six similar or related objects are considered a single unit.[1][2]

Many musical compositions are named for the number of musicians for which they are written. If a piece is written for six performers, it may be called a "sextet". Steve Reich's "Sextet" is written for six percussionists.

In jazz music a sextet is any group of six players, usually containing a drum set (bass drum, snare drum, hi-hat, ride cymbal), string bass or electric bass, piano, and various combinations of the following or other instruments: guitar, trumpet, saxophone, clarinet, trombone.

In heavy metal and rock music, a sextet typically contains, but is not restricted to, a lead vocalist, two guitarists, a bassist, drummer, and keyboardist.

String sextets

See String sextet

Piano sextets

See Piano sextet

Sextets in rock, heavy metal, and hip hop

Other sextets

References

  1. ↑ "Sextet - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary". Merriam-webster.com. 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  2. ↑ "sextet - definition of sextet by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia". Thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved 2013-09-15.