Triplets and other tuplets

In simple time (2/4, 3/4, 4/4) a beat naturally divides into two. To divide it into three, we use a triplet: three notes played in the time of two, marked with a small "3" (with or without a bracket).

• eighth-note triplet: 3 eighths in the time of one quarter;
• quarter-note triplet: 3 quarters in the time of one half note;
• sixteenth-note triplet: 3 sixteenths in the time of one eighth.

M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=72
K:C
BB BB (3BBB (3BBB | B2 (3BBB B2 (3BBB | (3B2B2B2 B4 |]
w: 1 and 2 and 3 trip-let 4 trip-let 1 2 trip-let 3 4 trip-let 1 trip-let 3

To count a triplet, say "1-trip-let, 2-trip-let" or "1-la-li", keeping the beat perfectly steady. Going from two eighths to a triplet must feel like a faster flow, not a faster tempo.

Arpeggios in triplets

M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=66
K:C
(3CEG (3cGE (3CEG (3cGE | (3DFA (3dAF (3B,DG (3BGD | c8 |]

This steady triplet motion recalls the first movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata, built entirely on an unbroken stream of triplets.

Other tuplets

• Duplet: 2 notes in the time of 3 (in compound time, see next lesson).
• Quadruplet: 4 in the time of 3.
• Quintuplet, sextuplet, septuplet: 5, 6 or 7 notes in the time of 4 (or 2, depending on the written value). Chopin and Liszt write dozens of them in virtuoso passages: the idea is to spread the notes flexibly across the beat, aiming above all at the arrival point.

M:2/4
L:1/16
Q:1/4=60
K:C
(5:4:5cdcBc d4 | (6:4:6efgfed c4 |]