Sextuplet
Six notes in the value of four.
What it means
A sextuplet divides a note value into six equal parts where, according to the prevailing order, four would stand. It relates to the fourfold division as the triplet relates to the twofold: six notes fill the space of four of the same notation.
In the notation
Above or below the group stands the figure 6, usually with a bracket or beam. Six sixteenths marked as a sextuplet fill the space of four ordinary sixteenths, that is, one quarter note. In the notation, two organizations are to be distinguished: a sextuplet can be meant as two groups of three — then it is basically a doubled triplet — or as three groups of two, which gives a different accentuation. The beaming or additional slurs often give information; where they do not, the context decides.
Musical use
Sextuplets appear above all in flowing accompanying figures and in runs, where they create an even movement, not too strongly organized. The difference to organization into two groups of three is musically considerable: read as three groups of two, a counterweight to the beat results; as two groups of three, a plain doubling of triplet movement. In some cases the ambiguity is intended.
The sextuplet is to be distinguished from the ordinary sixfold structure in triple-based time signatures: in six-eight time, six eighths are the norm and need no figure. A sextuplet exists only where four would be the rule.
Sextuplets are designated with the figure 6. It is to be distinguished whether the six notes are heard as two triplet groups or as three pairs; the beaming usually shows this. In fast Romantic piano music, sextuplets are frequent in accompanying figures.
Performance practice
Clarify the organization first: two times three, or three times two? The answer determines the accentuation and thereby the character. Play the group evenly, without internal intermediate accents, unless something else is demanded. Practise slowly against a metronome that beats only the beat, and increase in small steps. And take care that the group does not accelerate — with six notes on one beat, this is the most common inaccuracy.