Full Of Eastern Promise

What do you need if you can't make it through an Arabian night? Try a sextonic!

I was thinking back to some of the more interesting stuff I learned on my last adult education course and remembered one of the cooler scales that we were taught. In the same way that a pentatonic scale contains 5 notes, the sextonic is made up of 6.

The particular sextonic scale shown below is really great to jam on as almost any combination of notes will give you a fantastic exotic sounding tune.



I've shown the scale in E, with a typical 2 octave run highlighted. Why is E a good choice? Well, if you play the scale starting on the root on the A string then the low E is left free to 'drone' on, instantly adding a bassline and doubling the complexity of the sound. You can even hit the open A, drop down a string and repeat the lower note pattern to add more colour.

If you're looking to break out of the usual scales and modes then a sextonic may be just the ticket.