Rhythm reading lessons › Lesson 16 of 19
Change the subdivision from three to four, beat by beat.
Real music rarely stays in one subdivision. These exercises switch between three and four notes per beat, sometimes every beat.
The trap is letting one bleed into the other: triplets that turn into sixteenths, or sixteenths that start to swing. Say "tri-o-la" and "ti-ka-ti-ka" out loud and feel the gear change.
| Figure | Count | Kodály syllables |
|---|---|---|
| Eighth triplet | 1-trip-let | tri-o-la |
| Four sixteenths | 1 e & a | ti-ka-ti-ka |
| Sixteenth triplet | half-beat triplet | tri-o-la (fast) |
Eighth-note triplets put three notes in a beat and sixteenths put four, so sixteenths are a third faster. The difference is easy to hear, but small enough to smudge when the two follow each other.
With the click at 60 BPM, play a pyramid: one bar of quarter notes, one of eighths, one of triplets, one of sixteenths, and back down again. Say the syllables out loud. Then alternate from beat to beat: "tri-o-la, ti-ka-ti-ka".
The first note of every group has to land exactly on the click. If it does, the notes in between usually sort themselves out.
Going from three to four, people rush the first sixteenths. Going from four to three, they play the triplet too fast and then wait for the beat. The feedback shows this as a row of early claps followed by one that is on time. The sixteenth-note triplets in this lesson are simply the eighth-note triplet at double speed: three notes per half beat.