This is the last bar of an exercise from a lead guitar book I’m working my way through.
The exercises is in 4:4 but this bar has three 1/4notes and a half note.
The three 1/4notes are a triplet.
Am I right in counting the first two beats as triplets and playing the notes on the count in bold….?
1 trip let 2 trip let 3 4
Thank you.
David.
They are quarter note triplets.
Most common after eighth note triplets.
Put simply, a triplet is three notes played in the rhythmic space of two notes.
Eighth note triplets are three notes in the same space as two eighths.
Two eighths make a quarter but that does not make them quarter note triplets - because they occupy the space of only one quarter.
Let’s say a bar gad a triplet then was filled up by quarter notes the count would be 1-trip-let 2 3 4.
Quarter note triplets are three notes occupying the rhythmic space of two quarters.
Again, three replacing two, but the two being replaced this time are quarters, not eighths.
If a bar started with a quarter note triplet and the remainder was filled up with quarters, the count would be 1-trip-let 3 4.
This is the type you have. A quarter note triplet then a half note. Count it as 1-trip-let 3.
The count of 2 is subsumed within the triplet and the count of 4 can be silent due to the sustained half note starting on 3.
Thank you for your extensive reply, Richard.
I’m familiar with eight note triplets and can play them. This is the first time I’ve come across quarter note triplets and it threw me for a while.
I started out trying to play the bar with your count of ‘1 trip - let 3’ but I couldn’t decide where the triplet came in relation to beat 2, which is why I came up with my count to get the notes evenly spaced. Is my count incorrect?
It’s in a Blues context, so does it matter that the triplet is exactly evenly spaced or is it okay to be a bit looser as long as the first note is on beat 1 and the half note is on beat 3?
My understanding is a triplet in blues is usually played with a swing feel, so not straight. Hope that helps.
I will add something tomorrow to help if I have time.
Thanks Adrian.
I understand swing rhythm but that’s not the problem. It’s trying to space and play the triplet over two beats that’s throwing me. I’m tapping my foot on the beat and the metronome is ticking and beat 2 somehow gets in the way!
Apparently, it’s ’subsumed’…! Had to look that up!
I can play it and I always get the half note on beat3 but the last two notes of the triplet aren’t always in the same place.
I’ve had trouble with this myself and am looking forward to @Richard_close2u 's further comments.
This actually looks correct to me: it distributes the 3 notes evenly over the first 2 beats. I will try it the next time I come across it!
David.
Your bold font does mark the correct spacing of the notes played for quarter note triplets. If the first half of a bar is taken up with triplet eighths then you have: 1 - trip - let - 2 - trip - let
Three notes occupy the space of one quarter beat. Or, six notes occupy the space of two quarter beats. Let’s work with the idea of six notes.
Six is divisble by three meaning if we are going to split these two quarter beats into triplets, each will take up two-thirds of an eighth note triplet.
sixth sixth ... sixth sixth ... sixth sixth
two thirds ... two thirds ... two thirds
The triplet eighths are counted as 1 - trip - let - 2 - trip - let. Placing them within a similar framework allows us to see the connection between triplet eighths and triplet quarters.
I have created an audio and TAB in Guitar Pro showing step by step how you can arrive at quarter note triplets from eighth note triplets. I have displaced your pentatonic run to some notes higher up the neck, in minor pentatonic pattern 4. We will eventually come to a bar with the exact same rhythm as your ‘unusual bar’.
Bars 1 and 2 contain no guitar, just a drum beat playing quarters to establish the pulse.
In Bar 3 are two eighth note triplets followed by two quarter notes (the latter of which play the same pitch - the root note of A minor pentatonic).
The rhythm count is → 1 trip let 2 trip let 3 4
In Bar 4, the triplets have been modified. The middle note of each triplet is played as a muted string. There is still a separate sound to allow us to hear the three parts of the triplet, but it has no pitch.
The rhythm count is → 1 mute let 2 mute let 3 4
In Bar 5, the triplets have been modified further. The middle note of each triplet is now a rest - leaving a space between the first and last note of the triplets.
The rhythm count is → 1 ___ let ___ trip ___ 3 4
In Bar 6, the two spaces created within the two triplet eighths of Bar 5 are now filled. This is done by extending the duration of the preceding notes from single triplet-eighths to double triplet-eighths. Double triplet-eighths are exactly equivalent in duration to triplet quarters.
The rhythm count is still → 1 ___ let ___ trip ___ 3 4
In Bar 7 the two quarter notes in the second half of the bar have been tied to make them sound as one half note.
The rhythm count is → 1 ___ let ___ trip ___ 3
In Bar 8, the notation is changed to reflect that final note lasting a half bar, and it is now shown as a half note, not two tied quarters.
The rhythm count is still → 1 ___ let ___ trip ___ 3
In Bar 9 the final modification is made. We have three notes occupying the space of two quarters. Or, if you prefer, three quarter note triplets occupying the same space os two eighth note triplets. It is all the same. These quarter note triplets were arrived at from the more familiar eighth note triplets which is why the naming of their count is a little off kilter part way through the process. We have the rhythm count as 1 - let - trip. However, because these are now firmly established as quarter note triplets, we can reset the rhythm count. We dispense with the legacy of them coming from eighth triplets and now describe their rhythm in their own right.
The rhythm count is → 1 trip let 3
Here is the full tab.
Here is the audio with a tempo set at 60 bpm. Listen as you read the TAB.
Excellent Richard!!
Once again, above and beyond!
Your timing is excellent too because I’ve just come in to put the kettle on. It’s wet, cold and miserable out there…and so am I !!
I haven’t listened and studied it properly yet, but I will do later.
A quick once over tells me that I’m on the right track - but only part way through the process.
I think my issue is that, while I always try to focus on the sound of my playing, when I get to this last bar my focus is diverted to the timing and I’m not hearing it properly.
Hopefully, when I get used to playing it, I’ll start hearing it as a triplet and make those last steps to counting it as just one triplet.
Anyway, I’ll study your work more intently this evening and take it from there.
Thanks again for taking the time to put this together.
You’re a Diamond 
Hi Richard,
A bit of an update.
I’ve studied your tab and followed along with the recording and I fully understood the concept of what you’ve explained here. Thank you.
But….
For the life of me, that @^# beat2 was still getting in the way and throwing me when playing it!!
This bar comes at the end of a few exercises that add up to 16 bars - all in the key of A, so it’s sort of an ending and, of course, a quarter note triplet sounds half as fast as an eight note triplet, giving a feel of slowing down at the end.
So…
…I’ve taken the maths out of it and I don’t tap my foot on beat2 in this bar. After tapping on beat1, my foot is aiming for beat3 and I space the triplet by feel.
Bingo!!
1 trip-let 3 
Ah - interesting use of them to deliberately put the brakes on the tempo in a measured way.
They are half the speed of 8th triplets.
Good stuff.
