Related
A tuplet does this: where two notes would normally fit, three appear (or the reverse).
It is written by placing a number on the note group:
3for a triplet,5for a quintuplet,7for a septuplet.
Why it is needed: the duration system is binary
Every note value is generated by dividing by two:
whole → half → quarter → eighth → sixteenth → …
"Three" has no place in that system. So to put three notes into the space of two, the only option is to temporarily change the division — a tuplet is not "a new kind of note" but a borrowed division.
A distinction you must keep straight: tuplets versus the "threes" of compound metre
This is the key point of this entry:
| A triplet | Three eighths in 6/8 | |
|---|---|---|
| Each eighth is | one third of a beat (an irregular value) | an ordinary value (the denominator is 8) |
| Tuplet marking needed? | yes | no |
| Why | it contradicts the binary duration system | compound metre already divides the beat in three |
In other words: "three notes to a beat" is not a tuplet by itself; a tuplet exists only when a three appears where three should not. (For the structure behind this, see simple, compound and irregular metre.)
Common forms
| Type | Meaning | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| triplet | three notes in the space of two | commonest; a sense of flow in a lyrical line |
| quintuplet / septuplet | five or seven notes in the space of four | cadenzas, contemporary music |
| duplet | two notes in the space of three | the "temporarily simple" feel inside compound metre |
The duplet in the last row is rarely mentioned but shows the essence best: a tuplet is a temporary borrowing of a different division — it can go towards three, and it can come back from three to two (see polyrhythm, where several divisions sound at once by the same mechanism).
A performance point
The commonest mistake is to fudge a tuplet by playing it faster. The right approach is:
Treat that beat as one whole and divide it internally into three, rather than "speeding up to squeeze three notes in".
The difference is clearly audible: the first is even, the second is loose-then-tight or the reverse.
Diagram: an outsider inside a binary system
Listen: division by two and by three
Use the rhythm component to compare even eighths (the binary system) with triplets (division by three). Notice the "turning" quality of the triplets — that is the essential difference between three and two.
Common misconceptions
- "A triplet is just three notes played faster." The point is even division: the beat is split in three, not
- "Three eighths in 6/8 are a triplet." They are not; they are ordinary durations in a compound metre and need
- "Triplets are the only tuplet." Quintuplets, septuplets and duplets all exist; all are temporary borrowings of
- "Tuplets wreck the metre." They do not: a tuplet belongs to its beat and only divides that beat in three
three notes hurried into it.
no tuplet marking.
a different division.
(see the note under metric accent that an established beat is required). :::
Listen in the library
All tracks from midicn-lib — inline badge is the license tier (C1 commercial / C2 non-commercial / C3 study only).
Sources
- 连音（tuplet）指在正常时值内改放不同数量的音；三连音为最常用形式，属乐理通则
- 单拍子/复拍子中"三音"无需连音记号（因拍的单位本身即为三等分），为通行记谱规范
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.