Bajo Quinto / Sexto

The bajo sexto is a twelve-string instrument with six double courses, developed in southern Mexico in the 19th century and later adopted as the bass voice of the conjunto norteño alongside the accordion. By the end of that century it had migrated north to the border region, where it became essential to norteño and tejano music across the US-Mexico borderlands. The bajo quinto is a closely related ten-string version with the two lowest courses removed, favored in certain regional and playing contexts. Both share the same deep, resonant character and appear side by side in norteño music today.