Questions tagged [tuplet]

For questions about the notation or use of a tuplet (the most common form being a triplet). Questions with this tag will most likely also contain the rhythm tag.

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5 votes
2 answers
253 views

Spacing in tuplets (in sheet-music)

I am trying to understand whether it's okay to have different spaces within tuplets in case if I have other voices, or should I aim somehow to have even spaces in tuplets? Here is an example: For me ...
5 votes
1 answer
117 views

How do I enter these triplets into MuseScore?

I'm a total beginner with all things music theory, so I figured I'd ask. I'm trying to enter this into MuseScore, but the triplets in the last two bars are confusing me. If I try to enter them I get ...
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7 votes
3 answers
238 views

Lilypond tremolo and tuplets

I am inputting a score and struggling with repeated triplets. In the snippet A is visually what is in the manuscript B is my understanding of the musical intention C is as close as I can get in ...
  • 173
3 votes
1 answer
106 views

Not sure how to notate this

I'm not sure if this is a sextuplet with a tremolo or how to notate it. (Using Musescore; I know how to notate a sextuplet with a tremolo, but it doesn't look like this once I do). Any advice as to ...
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2 votes
2 answers
177 views

How to play this triplet? [duplicate]

how can I play this triplet hands together? Time signature in this piece is 4/4.
5 votes
4 answers
638 views

How to notate a "softened" dotted rhythm?

In a score I'm preparing, I have many pairs of notes whose durations should be played in the ratios 2:1 or 1:2, with each pair having a total duration of a half note. The common way to notate this is ...
4 votes
4 answers
267 views

Can a tuplet cross a barline?

In correct music notation, can a tuplet (like a triplet or a quintuplet) cross a barline? I have never seen this, but if it's not allowed, why not? It looks to me like it should be possible.
  • 529
2 votes
2 answers
98 views

What is the duration of each note in a triple which contains more than three notes or less than three notes?

I am watching this video: It says there are some triplets with more than three values or less than three values. For instance: In the video, it demonstrates how I ...
4 votes
2 answers
223 views

Suppressed repeated tuplet numbers

In older scores that have been engraved by hand, it is very common to see something like this: i.e. if there are many of the same tuplets in a row, the tuplet number is shown only for a couple of ...
  • 5,635
5 votes
3 answers
537 views

Can't understand 16th notes connected by beams [duplicate]

The following section (mm. 49–52) is from "Metamorphosis II" by Philip Glass with 4/4 signature. I don't understand how beats are adding up: There are 4x6 16th notes in each G clef measure, ...
  • 153
9 votes
1 answer
400 views

lilypond - hide tuplet numbers

I am working on translating BWV 772 into a lilypond file. I want to make it match the manuscript as much as possible. In the first bar, Bach writes the 3s for the triplets in both voices and then you ...
  • 658
1 vote
1 answer
176 views

Can anyone tell me how to play triplets in rhythm with eighth notes? [duplicate]

I'm having difficulty performing these series of triplets in tandem with my eighth notes? Does anyone know any cues or practice I can do to learn? I'm thinking I should try to just aim to aim to time ...
1 vote
1 answer
84 views

What note would be used to fit 4 notes in a 5/8 time signature

What note represents 1.25 beats. Or in other words 4 notes in 5/8 time.
2 votes
1 answer
86 views

thirteen within 4 beats? [duplicate]

How would you go about executing the rhythm pattern in bar 15 of Frank Zappa's "The Black Page #2"? "The Page" is in 4/4 time; how does one practice making 13 regular strokes ...
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4 votes
1 answer
405 views

Sextuplet vs pair of triplets

A single sextuplet and a pair of triplets are similar in the fact that their rhythmic note values are equal, but are different (as affirmed in this post) in that usually a sextuplet should only have ...
2 votes
2 answers
89 views

Meaning of redundant tuplet

I sometimes see tuplets in written music that don't appear to serve any purpose, where the duration within the tuplet is the same as the duration the tuplet occupies as a whole. For example, I ...
7 votes
2 answers
1k views

What time signature should I use with partial triplets?

Say I have six groupings of eighth note triplets, 18 total notes. I want to play 16 eighth note triplets, leave off the last two notes ("partial triplet"), and repeat the section. To my ear, ...
  • 173
9 votes
2 answers
475 views

Orchestral score has inconsistent time signature changes and note lengths

I'm learning music notation and as both a fan and enthusiast I bought the Star Trek: The Motion Picture film score from Omni Music Publishing. Unfortunately, I've encountered a confusing bit of ...
2 votes
0 answers
68 views

Triplet round instead of square [duplicate]

I'd like to use a round bracket instead the square bracket for the Triplets but I can't find a solution. Here the exemple with regular square bracket: http://lilybin.com/iqdj8r/1 Thank you!
  • 514
0 votes
4 answers
381 views

Swing in eight notes vs triplets

I am trying to learn jazz and still can't find a solid answer to the swing in eighth notes. I understand swing follows the "long-short" pattern (quarter-eighth), but since triplets have a ...
3 votes
1 answer
432 views

Name of a "triplet" inside an eighth beat

I've recently been creating my own rendition of Amazing Grace, and while I was working to add a bit of stylistic elements to it, I imagined a melody in my head which would require 3 beats in the space ...
6 votes
3 answers
537 views

How to write rests in triplet semiquaver groups

In the second bar I have to add the correct rest and it is a triplet semiquaver group Do you have to use separate semiquaver rests like I have done or could I have used one quaver rest instead?
  • 9,209
2 votes
1 answer
107 views

concerning irregular tuplets

An n-tuplet is a division of a given pulse in n even parts; hence, a quintuplet is playing 5 notes in the space of one, usually a quarter note, as a 13-tuplet is dividing a note in 13 even parts. What ...
1 vote
0 answers
24 views

How these measures have more note values than mentioned in the time signature [duplicate]

I'm trying to play this piece of music where the time signature is 4-4 but it seems that the measures have more note values. How is this possible? Can someone please explain? I have attached a photo ...
  • 13
11 votes
2 answers
969 views

Why did Beethoven use triplets for the whole first movement of Moonlight Sonata rather than writing it in say 6/8?

I just came across the score for Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, and I was surprised when I saw the time signature of the first movement. (My background is that I've played music for many years—mainly ...
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9 votes
1 answer
712 views

Can a tuplet make notes longer?

While reading about tuplets recently, I came across the notion of a ratio for a tuplet. As shown in this picture, for example, a 3 eighth note to 2 eighth note tuplet would replace two eighth notes ...
10 votes
6 answers
917 views

How to interpret in swing a 16th triplet followed by an 1/8 note?

So the combined 1/16 triplet and 1/8 note cover a quarter note. The question is does the 1/16 triplet cover a straight 1/8 note or does it cover the 1st two 1/8 notes of a set of an 1/8 triplet. So is ...
0 votes
1 answer
111 views

How to play triplets & 16th notes together? [duplicate]

First of all, I'm a beginner with only one year experience on the piano, I have studied musical theory on my own for 2 years prior to buying it, and I've been practicing a piece since I've gotten my ...
  • 3
5 votes
1 answer
169 views

How can I render "uneven" tuplets in ABC notation?

I understand how to create "normal" tuplets in ABC: for example, where a triplet contains three notes, or a quintuplet contains five notes. X:1 T:"Normal" Tuplets M:2/4 L:1/16 K:...
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11 votes
4 answers
1k views

How Do I Count Note Durations In These Bars?

I am learning a piece at the moment which is in 4/4, however some bars look like they should be 12/8, and I am confused about the mixing of notation of sometimes triplets sometimes not. Here is the ...
  • 1,591
6 votes
3 answers
553 views

triplets on full score or 12/8 (with dotted 4th as full beat)?

I am writing a piece in 4/4 which has triplets all the way. I insist it is not a "swing" feel, which I know how to notate (writing regular eight notes and adding the Swing decorator), but ...
  • 239
2 votes
1 answer
94 views

2/4 time signature, miscounting? [duplicate]

I'm trying to to practice my 2/4 time signature. Am I just making a stupid mistake with the attached image? They are 1/16th notes? so shouldn't there only be 8 of them to make up two beats and not 12? ...
-1 votes
3 answers
324 views

How could you notate a measure where you have "cut-off" triplets? [closed]

So, let's say you have a measure of 3/4. Like the following: Then you have a triplet in the next measure, like this: How would I "cut off" the last quarter rest from that triplet? I was ...
2 votes
2 answers
287 views

Number of beats doesn't match time signature - how to play this?

I have a question about sheet music for D. Scarlatti's sonata K56. The time signature of the piece is 12/8, but in the very first measure there are actually 12.5 beats in the upper staff, including ...
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3 votes
2 answers
213 views

Mixed 3:5 rhythm with ordinary notes

I've got this rhythm which has a 3:5 bit (the three notes in the top go against the first five in the bottom - the final rest in each bar is in-line to make up the bar of 6/8) and I've sketched out ...
1 vote
2 answers
133 views

triplet in tuplet

From this Tuplet explanation: A triplet: “three notes played in the normal duration of four”. But I could not verify this on couple of the music sheets and from entering notes using flat.io site. ...
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6 votes
1 answer
653 views

Is it a mistake to write a "6" (sextuplet notation) over a grouping of three notes?

Like many guitarists I'm not great at reading traditional music notation. I just came across the following bar, and I'm confused: (If anyone cares, this is from the song Sequoia Throne by Protest the ...
  • 163
0 votes
2 answers
450 views

Help with sixteenth tuplet with a 9 under

I have trouble understanding a sixteenth note tuplet with a 9 under it, as I have tried to count it as a triplet but it still doesn't fit in. People say that tuplets are in the space of 1 quarter ...
3 votes
3 answers
314 views

Thoughts on Tuplets vs. Subdivision?

This was a point of interest brought up in the comments to my answer on Help with analyzing sus and add chords in this progression. In that question, the sheet music has a measure of 4/4 time written ...
  • 12.3k
5 votes
6 answers
355 views

Preferred notation for subdivision into 2 parts in 6/8

Which of these notations is preferred?
1 vote
1 answer
288 views

Number 6 finger notation on music?

My music has a number 6 on the finger notation and I can’t figure out what finger I’m supposed to use.
8 votes
4 answers
838 views

Metric Modulation: Length of 'swing' notes

I just exported a Piano score from Sibelius with a swing feel: I wanted to edit the MIDI in my DAW and noticed, that the notes actually weren't in a triplet duration. The second note was always off ...
  • 2,891
2 votes
5 answers
200 views

Question on time signatures relating to compound and simple time with tuplets

I'm currently learning theory for grade 3, but i hit sort of a roadblock. In the image, the question asks to "Add time signatures to these bars". Now, I do know that let's say 3/4 and 6/8 differ in ...
  • 151
2 votes
2 answers
436 views

Write three sixteenth notes as a triplet in Musescore

I am desperate, I don't know where else to look. I have this score where I need to turn 3 sixteenths into a triplet. Is there a way to select the three notes and make them into a triplet? I really ...
1 vote
1 answer
259 views

What does this 3 means in staff notation? [duplicate]

Does anyone know what does this 3 means in staff notation as shown below in the image, why there is more than 3 bits.
0 votes
2 answers
358 views

Numbers under a note (guitar) [duplicate]

Hi I am a guitar beginner, can someone help me to understand what does that number (3 under notes) mean?
  • 1
0 votes
1 answer
138 views

Musescore: add dotted 16th note triplet on a dotted 8th note space

I am trying to transcribe a piece of sheet music in MuseScore. However, I am having difficulty making a triplet of dotted 16th note. The music is in 4/4. Can anyone help me with this please? I have ...
  • 109
13 votes
2 answers
2k views

Unknown indication below upper stave

The number 2, quite large and in italics, appears twice below the notes on the upper stave. There are some fingering indicators but one quarter the size. The time signature is 6/8
  • 133
3 votes
3 answers
2k views

Time signature inconsistent

I'm trying to write the first measure of the Moonlight in Lilypond From my very basic knowledge the first measure is 4 x 3 x 1/8 = 3/2 long, but the special symbol (alla breve) seams to be a 2/2. ...
3 votes
1 answer
259 views

Quintuplet over 3/16th

For quintuplets over 4/16th notes I can use 16th note quintuplet. For quintuplets over 2/16th notes I can use 32nd note quintuplet. Is there any notation for quintuplets over 3/16th notes? Imagine ...
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