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20.2: Simple Meter Compound Triplets

  • Page ID
    258600
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    Triplets vs. Compound Triplets

    Triplets occur when we have three even sounds on a beat. Compound triplets take three even sounds, but cover two beats. The easiest way to think about these is to break them into smaller pieces to help visualize and hear where these sounds occur.

    If we break a measure of simple meter into triplets on each beat, we can evenly disperse the quarter note triplets every other sound.

    Triplets with cross noteheads, compound triplets with regular noteheads, and lines showing where they sound

    In this graphic, you can see the triplets on the lower staff that break our two beats into two beats of triplets. The quarter note triplet on the upper staff (compound triplet) shows each note sounding with every other part of the lower triplets.

    Counting

    If we are to count this example out loud, the most accurate performance of the compound triplets will be to count the subdivision of the triplets. Counting the triplets, we could borrow from compound meter and say, "1-la-li 2-la-li." In this case, we could then clap or tap on "1," "li," and "la." We might think of this as "1-la-li 2-la-li."

    Upper line with compound triplets and counts 1-li-la. Lower line with triplets and 1-la-li 2-la-li


    This page titled 20.2: Simple Meter Compound Triplets is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Lauren C. Sharkey.