Triplets and Irregular Groups
You're going to learn how to read and perform triplets, sextuplets, duplets, quadruplets and irregular groups.
So far, every note value you've seen divides into two: this is called duple division. The triplet allows a triple division of a note value, which means dividing it into three equal parts (§ 54 and 55).
How a triplet is written
Rather than invent new signs, musicians use the note values you already know, with one rule: three notes in a triplet take the time of two notes of the same value in duple division. The number 3 is written above or below the group (§ 56). So an eighth-note triplet lasts one quarter note, and each eighth note of the triplet is a third of a quarter note.
| Note value | equals, as a triplet |
|---|---|
| Whole note | 3 triplet half notes |
| Half note | 3 triplet quarter notes |
| Quarter note | 3 triplet eighth notes |
| Eighth note | 3 triplet sixteenth notes |
| Sixteenth note | 3 triplet 32nd notes |
| 32nd note | 3 triplet 64th notes |
Uneven triplets and rests in a triplet
A triplet doesn't have to be made of three equal notes. Its durations simply have to add up to three equal notes (§ 58). A rest can also be part of a triplet, and it is then worth as much as the note it replaces (§ 59).
The double triplet, or sextuplet
Now let's put two triplets together. The double triplet, or sextuplet, joins two neighboring triplets into a single group, and it is shown by a 6 above the whole group (§ 60).
Don't confuse it with a simple triplet in which each note is split in two. The sextuplet divides each note of a duple group into three, which gives two groups of three. The split triplet divides each note of a triple group into two, which gives three groups of two. In both cases all six notes have the same length, but the stresses fall differently.
The duplet and the quadruplet
The triplet also has an opposite: the duple division of a dotted value. A dotted value normally divides into three. To divide it into two, you use the note values of the triple division and write a 2 above the group. This is the duplet (§ 61). Two duplets together form a quadruplet, in which four notes take the place of six notes of the same value.
| Simple value (quarter note) | Compound value (dotted quarter note) | |
|---|---|---|
| Normal division | duple: 2 eighth notes | triple: 3 eighth notes |
| Exceptional division | triple: eighth-note triplet | duple: eighth-note duplet |
Irregular groups
You'll sometimes meet groups that divide a value irregularly, into 5, 7, 9 notes or more. They are written with the even note value that gives the closest division, and the group always carries a number (§ 62). Five or seven notes in a quarter note are written as sixteenth notes, and nine are written as 32nd notes.
- Value
- Dotted half note
- In quarter notes
- 3 quarter notes
- In whole notes
- 3/4 of a whole note
- Breakdown
- Half note + Quarter note
Write eighth-note triplets equal to a quarter note, a half note, and a dotted quarter note followed by an eighth note.
In the time of a quarter note, write a triplet with uneven values and a triplet that contains a rest.
Write sextuplets equal to a quarter note and to a half note.
Write groups of 5, 7, 9 and 11 notes in the time of a quarter note.
There's one secondary sign left to discover, the tie, and that's the subject of the next lesson. First, let's check what you've learned with the quiz.