Tuplets |
Triplets [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] Despite the various rhythmic values explained and the
possibility to lengthen them with a dot or a tie, some rhythmic
values are still impossible to write. For instance, how could you
write notes during one third of a quarter note? Impossible,
because all rhythmic values are based on multiples of two. The irregular groups, also called tuplets, are groups of notes
not being a multiple of a standard rhythmic value. Let us start
with the simplest, the triplet. The triplet is a group of 3 identical rhythmic
values that must be played within the duration of 2 rhythmic
values. Let us take an example with eighth notes. An eighth note
has a duration of half a beat. Three eighth notes have a duration
of one and a half beat. An eighth note triplet is a group of 3
eighth notes accelerated to fit within the duration of 2 standard
eighth notes, that is to say, one beat. Here is how it is
represented: The three eighth notes are grouped by a curve
(or a hook) with figure "3". It means 3 instead of 2.
The three notes are played more quickly than their normal
duration. The total duration of the three notes is equivalent to
one quarter note. You can put four such groups in a 4/4 measure. Here is an example with a quarter note triplet: The three quarter notes must be played within
the normal duration of 2 quarter notes. The group thus uses 2
beats of the measure. Open the Ex020 file and listen to
it. It contains examples of quarter note triplets and eighth
notes triplets: Triplets let you divide durations into three
equal parts such as the eighth note triplet which divides the
quarter note into three parts. Notice that you can place
different rhythmic values in a triplet, as in the following
examples: In the first two cases, the quarter note
replaces two eighth notes. So there is still 3 eighth notes
instead of 2. In the third case, the half note represents two
quarter notes and it is a quarter note triplet (3 quarter notes
instead of 2). The sixteenth note triplet is constructed on
the same principle. It is a group of 6 notes replacing a normal
duration of 4 notes (it can also exist with only 3 sixteenth
notes instead of 2). It is often used with sixteenth notes. Here
an example: Other tuplets [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] The basic idea of the triplet is to place 3 notes covering the
normal duration of 2 notes. The duration of each note is thus
reduced to 2/3 of its normal value. This principle can be extended by using other numbers than 3
and 2. Let us take an example with 5 notes played within the
duration of 4 notes. It is written as follows: The five sixteenth notes are reduced to the duration of 4,
i.e. the equivalent of a quarter note. The quarter note is thus
divided into 5 equal parts. This would not have been possible
with standard rhythmic values. The durations are multiplied by
4/5. You can create groups with 7:4 (7 notes instead of 4), 15:12
(15 notes instead of 12),
Calculation becomes complicated
and the performer has a hard time, but it is always possible to
play it! In this case, the ratio used is explicitly written, such
as 7:4. Open and listen to the Ex021 file as an example
of the sound effect it creates. Listen to the upper regular
sounds to locate the beats: