16.2 · Advanced Rhythm

Tuplets

Regular splits halve the beat: two eighths, four sixteenths. A tuplet squeezes a different number into the same space: three makes a triplet, five a quintuplet, seven a septuplet. In notation a small number over the group says how many share the beat.

Three in the space of two

The same beat twice: split in two, then in three. The triplet turns the walk into a roll.

2 per beat · ti-ti
3 per beat · tri-o-la

Game · Triplets or eighths?

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Four clicks count you in, then the claps split each click. Two per click, or three?

Listen first. Then answer.

Five and seven

The bracket number can be any count. Five per beat is a quintuplet, seven a septuplet. The beat underneath never changes.

5 per beat
7 per beat, written as a 7 over the group

Say the split to play it

Each count has a spoken pattern. Say the syllables on the clicks and the split falls out of your mouth.

2 per beat · ti-titwo even eighths
3 per beat · tri-o-laeighth triplet
4 per beat · ti-ka-ti-kafour sixteenths
5 per beat · ta-ka-ti-ki-taquintuplet

Quiz

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A triplet fits how many notes into one beat?