Quote:
There's a triplet at the end of my Bootsy Collins line for example
Well, no, that's not a triplet as you've tabbed it. That's two 16ths and an 8th.
In a triplet, be it triplet 8ths, 16ths, quarters, or halves, you're playing three equal-length notes in a space where normally you would only play two.
Using triplet 8ths as an example, let's say you're playing a song where each quarter is one second long. Normally that means two equal-length, 1/2 second 8th notes per quarter.
But if you're doing triplet 8ths, you're playing three equal-length notes in that space of one second instead of two. So instead of two 8th beats at 1/2 second each, you've got three 8th beats at 1/3 second each. If you hold any of those notes longer than 1/3, it's no longer a triplet.
A good example of triplet 8ths is Magnet and Steel by Walter Egan. Here's the opening staff (ignore the dots, I needed them to make sure the triplet notations lined up):
Tabs:
....( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 )
G |—————————————————————————|—————————————————————————|—————————————————————————|—————————————————————————|
D |—————————————————————————|—————————————————————————|—————————————————————————|—————————————————————————|
A |—2—2—2—2—2—2—2—2—2—2—2—2—|—2—2—2—2—2—2—2—2—2—2—————|—————————————2———————————|—————————————2———————————|
E |—————————————————————————|—————————————————————2—4—|—5———————4—2—————————2—4—|—5———————4—2—————————2—4—|
1 & & 2 & & 3 & & 4 & & 1 & & 2 & & 3 & & 4 & & 1 & & 2 & & 3 & & 4 & & 1 & & 2 & & 3 & & 4 & &
Note that instead of the counter showing the usual
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &, there's an extra
& between quarters to indicate triplet 8th feel.
The first two bars consist entirely of triplet 8ths. Three equal-length notes per quarter, in all four quarters of each bar.
The next two bars are also in triplet 8th feel, and each contains instances of three notes in a row, but in each case the third note is longer than the two before it, so they're not considered triplets. You COULD consider making triplets of each 8th beat the note is sustained on, but that would just mean having to write (2) on every empty 8th count and adding a triplet indicator above, and that would just be confusing. Or you could notate each sustained beat as a dotted note, but dotted notes are a whole other (and even MORE confusing) conversation.
