Rhythm reading lessons › Lesson 15 of 19
Three even notes stretched across two beats.
A quarter-note triplet fits three notes into the time of two quarter notes, so the notes fall between the clicks. Only the first one lands on a beat.
Feel it through the eighth-note triplets underneath: count "1-trip-let 2-trip-let" and clap on 1, on "let" of beat 1 and on "trip" of beat 2.
| Figure | Count | Kodály syllables |
|---|---|---|
| Quarter-note triplet | 1 (trip) let (2) trip (let) | ta-ta-ta over two beats |
| Rest inside the triplet | keep the three slots even | (sh) ta ta |
A quarter-note triplet is three quarter notes, marked with a 3 and a bracket, played in the time of two. In 4/4 one such triplet fills half a bar, so three even notes are spread over two beats. A full bar holds two triplets, six notes in all.
Count eighth-note triplets: "1-trip-let 2-trip-let". That gives six small slots in two beats. A quarter-note triplet takes every second slot: "1", then "let", then the "trip" of beat 2. So the first note is on beat 1, the second just before beat 2 and the third just after it. Nothing is clapped on beat 2 itself.
The usual error is to clap dotted eighth, dotted eighth, eighth instead: long, long, short. It is close, but the third note is cut short. In a real quarter-note triplet all three notes are equally long.
To fix it, clap the eighth-note triplets with an accent on every second note, then keep only the accented claps.