Music notation glossary · Note values
Triplet
three notes in the time of two
In the score
What it means
A bracket or beam with a 3 above it. Three eighth-note triplets together last as long as two ordinary eighths — the time is divided by three instead of two.
Tuplets
3 eighths in the time of 2 — far and away the most common tuplet. It splits one beat into three instead of two and can be heard in almost every swing and blues number. In print it usually appears without a bracket: the beam already groups it, so the number alone will do.
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See AnotonaEvery note on this page is computed, not typed in — following the rule that also makes F# major spell its seventh degree E#, not F.