Tuplet

A group of notes played in the time normally occupied by a different number of notes, marked with a figure such as three or five.

Tuplets bend the written rhythm by fitting an irregular number of notes into a regular space, and the number printed above the group states the ratio. The most common is the triplet, three notes in the time of two, but quintuplets and septuplets appear in jazz and modern instrumental music, and nested tuplets occur in contemporary classical writing. For a guitarist they are a phrasing tool, since a burst of five or seven notes against a steady beat sounds different in character from a straight subdivision.

Example: Five notes played evenly across one beat, marked with a small five above them, form a quintuplet.

Tuplet

See also