The triplet · Rhythm and meter · Music theory
A triplet fits three notes into the time of two of the same value: an eighth-note triplet lasts a quarter. It is written with a 3 over the notes, and it is…
The triplet
A triplet fits three notes into the time of two of the same value: an eighth-note triplet lasts a quarter. It is written with a 3 over the notes, and it is how a beat of a simple meter is divided into three.
Feeling the triplet
A triplet divides the beat into three equal parts. The hardest thing is not to turn it into an eighth and two sixteenths, a very common mistake. It helps to say a three-syllable word on each beat, evenly, over a steady pulse.
It is the first of a family: tuplets, which have their own lesson in the Musicianship chapter.