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In music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
 a tuplet is any consecutive group of notes with an individual value
Note value

In music notation, a note value indicates the relative duration of a note , using the color or shape of the note head, the presence or absence of a stem , and the presence or absence of flags....
 more or less than half as long as the next larger note value. This is usually indicated with a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) bracket with a number over a tuplet indicating how many notes of the same altered value (or duration) are to be performed.

Explanation
The most common tuplet is the triplet (G.
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
 triole), shown at right.






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Encyclopedia


In music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
 a tuplet is any consecutive group of notes with an individual value
Note value

In music notation, a note value indicates the relative duration of a note , using the color or shape of the note head, the presence or absence of a stem , and the presence or absence of flags....
 more or less than half as long as the next larger note value. This is usually indicated with a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) bracket with a number over a tuplet indicating how many notes of the same altered value (or duration) are to be performed.

Explanation


The most common tuplet is the triplet (G.
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
 triole), shown at right. Whereas normally two quarter note
Quarter note

A quarter note or crotchet is a note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note . Quarter notes are notated with a filled-in oval note head and a straight, flagless stem ....
s are the same duration
Duration

A tone may be sustained for varying lengths of time. Duration is a property of tone that becomes one of the bases rhythm or an quantity of time or a particular time Interval ....
 as a half note
Half note

In music, a half note or minim is a note played for half the duration of a whole note and twice the duration of a quarter note . In time signatures with a denominator of 4, such as 4/4 or 3/4 time, the half note is two beat long....
, three triplet quarter notes total that same duration, so the duration of a triplet quarter note is 2/3 the duration
Duration

A tone may be sustained for varying lengths of time. Duration is a property of tone that becomes one of the bases rhythm or an quantity of time or a particular time Interval ....
 of a standard quarter note. Similarly, three triplet eighth notes are equal in duration to one quarter note. If several note values appear under the triplet bracket, they are all affected the same way, reduced to their original 2/3 duration.

Triplet notation


If the notes of the triplet are beamed
Beam (music)

A beam in musical notation is a thick line frequently used to connect multiple consecutive eighth notes , or notes of shorter note value , and occasionally rests....
 together, the bracket may be omitted and the number written above the beam, as shown in the second illustration. Occasionally the bracket is omitted when the notes are slur
Slur (music)

A slur is a symbol in Western musical notation indicating that the notes it embraces are to be played without separation. This implies legato articulation, and in music for bow ed string instruments, it also indicates the notes should be played in one bow; and in music for wind instruments, that the notes should be played without using the to...
red together.

For other tuplets, the number indicates a ratio
Ratio

A ratio is an expression which compares quantities relative to each other. The most common examples involve two quantities, but in theory any number of quantities can be compared....
 to the next lower power of two
Power of two

In mathematics, a power of two is any of the integer exponentiation of the number 2 ; in other words, two multiplication by itself a certain number of times....
. So a quintuplet indicated with the numeral 5 means that five of the indicated note value total the duration
Duration

A tone may be sustained for varying lengths of time. Duration is a property of tone that becomes one of the bases rhythm or an quantity of time or a particular time Interval ....
 normally occupied by four, equivalent to the second higher note value; for example, five quintuplet eighth notes total the same duration as a half note. Some numbers are used inconsistently: for example septuplets are sometimes used to mean 7 notes in the duration
Duration

A tone may be sustained for varying lengths of time. Duration is a property of tone that becomes one of the bases rhythm or an quantity of time or a particular time Interval ....
 of 4, but other times to mean 7 notes in the duration of 8. To avoid ambiguity, composers sometimes write the ratio explicitly instead of just a single number, as shown in the third illustration.

In compound metre
Compound metre

In music, compound meter, compound metre, or compound time , is a time signature or meter in which each bar is divided into three or more parts, or two uneven parts , calling for the bar to be played with principal and subordinate metric accent , causing the sensation of beat ....
, even-numbered tuplets can indicate that a note value is changed in relation to the dotted version of the next higher note value
Note value

In music notation, a note value indicates the relative duration of a note , using the color or shape of the note head, the presence or absence of a stem , and the presence or absence of flags....
. Thus, two duplet eighth note
Eighth note

An eighth note or a quaver is a Music note played for one eighth the duration of a whole note, hence the name.Eighth notes are notated with an oval, filled-in note head and a straight note stem with one flag ....
s (most often used in 6/8 meter
Metre (music)

Meter or metre is a concept related to an underlying division of time characteristic of western music. The concept provides that the pattern, is usually 2, 3, or 4 beats long, , and each beat may be normally divided into 2 or 3 basic subdivisions ....
) take the time normally totaled by three eighth notes, equal to a dotted quarter note. Four quadruplet eighth notes would also equal a dotted quarter note. The duplet eighth note is thus exactly the same duration as a dotted eighth note, but the duplet notation is more often used in compound meters.

Usage and purpose


Tuplets can produce irrational rhythm
Irrational rhythm

In music, the term irrational rhythm refers both to a particular extension of the traditional Western notation system for musical time,and to all the various rhythmic effects indicated or achieved by means of this extended notation....
s, for example the hemiola
Hemiola

In modern musical parlance, a hemiola is a metrical pattern in which two bar s in simple triple time signature are articulated as if they were three bars in simple duple time ....
, or may be used as polyrhythm
Polyrhythm

Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms. Polyrhythms can be distinguished from irrational rhythms, which can occur within the context of a single Part ; polyrhythms require at least two rhythms to be played concurrently, one of which is typically an irrational rhythm....
s when played against the regular duration. They are extrametric rhythmic unit
Rhythmic unit

A rhythmic unit is a durational pattern which occupies a period of time equivalent to a pulse or pulses on an underlying metric level, as opposed to a rhythmic gesture....
s.

See also

  • Counting (music)
    Counting (music)

    In music, counting is repeatedly adding one , or Multiple of some other number, so as to assist with the performance or Hearing of music. Counting is most commonly used with rhythm and form and often involves subdivision....
  • Schaffel
    Schaffel

    Schaffel is a term used to describe a trend in progressive electronic music in which the time signatures are Hard swing. Often tuplet are used to create the swinging rhythms....