 Hi guys, this is Jason here from the Nathaniel School of Music and in this lesson, let's explore the world of triplets and also discover a few grooves which are not triplets, sometimes mistaken for them but also sound really groovy and very awesome in their own way. So let's get started. I'm going to first talk about two very important rhythms which you need to know, one which is not a triplet and the other which is a triplet. So let me just play you two rhythms and then we'll try and figure this out together. Here's the first rhythm and now let's do the second rhythm, back to the first one. Second, first, second. So if you'll observe, both of the rhythms sounded very similar but yet very different in terms of their groove and what they make you do with your body, you know, you should ask dancers that. I'm sure they'll be able to answer the question better than me. So let's decode all of this together and understand exactly what's going on with the mats and before we get started, do subscribe to our YouTube channel if you haven't already. Turn on that bell icon for notifications and now let's begin. So the first rhythm which I'm going to show you or which I played is what we call as the Thresio. The Thresio rhythm is nothing but you divide the beat into four. You count semi quavers or sixteenth notes. You do not count triplets but then there's a rather irregular kind of a pattern which we can also feel as three plus three plus two subdivisions. So if I have to count it out for you guys slowly, one e and a two e and a three and a four e and a. This is how you maintain a sixteenth note groove and a four e and a. Let's say that together and a three and a go. One e and a two e and a three and a four e and a one e and a two e and a three and a four e and a. And as you will see by the notation, you will find a hit point at the one. You will find the hit point at the a of the one, one e and a and then at the end of the two. One e and a two e and one e and a two e and a three e and a four and then it sort of repeats. a two beat phrase, one e and a two e and a three and a four e and a one e and a two e and a three and a four e car, so if I maintain the pulse here, one e and a five E and a four e, I agreed, a little slower, one e and a two e and a three So that's your Thresio and something which is very much a triplet is where you divide the beat exactly into three pieces like how a triplet is designed to be. So a triplet is something you can't get away with especially in places like the east or especially a place where I come from, India, where you hear triplets in almost all the music, the folk music, the film music and the indie music, you hear it pretty much everywhere. So here you go, one and a two and a three and a four and a one triplet, some people say that I just prefer to go one and a two and a three and a four and a one and a two and a three and a four and a. So a common way in which people count triplets is usually to divide the beat into three equal parts and perhaps play all the three equal parts as follows, one and a two and a three and a. Sounds quite cool but doesn't give you that vibe of a triplet which you really hear in music, songs like the bridge of Bohemian Rhapsody really gets you to feel that. And so on and so forth. A good way to feel a triplet is you divide the beat into three equal units that's one and a two and a. But then instead of playing all the triplets, all the available triplets which constitutes an eighth note triplet vibe, what you will do is you will skip one. So that'll be one and a two and a three and a four and a one and a two and a and a four and a. So somewhere hidden is actually another smaller slower and groovier triplet which is one and a two and a three and a four and a one and a two and a four and a one and a two and a three and a four and a two and a four and a one and a two and a three and as opposed to everything which is not as groovy as maybe one and a two and a three and a. Right, this is what we call as a triplet feel or a lot of people also use the term hemiola or a three is to two kind of rhythm where you're feeling three beats against otherwise perceived two beats. Let's focus on the difference now again between the thresio and the triplet feel or the hemiola. The thresio again you're dividing into four equal units that'll be one and a two and a three and a very dancy, very salsa, you'll also hear songs like shape of you following this exact rhythm. Another way you can count thresio in a very crude way could be one two three, one two three one two three one two three one two three one two three one two but that doesn't make it triplets. Triplets is equal three, equal three divisions. So if you have to now compare the thresio, one and a two and a three with the hemiola or the triplet feel first off you need to be thinking one and a two and a three and a four and a so you go one and a two and a three and a four and a one and a two and a three and a one triplet two triplet three triplet four triplet one and a two and a three and a four and and this actually is also known as a quarter note triplet. So if you are notating it you'll have three quarter notes in the space of a minimum or in the space of two beats okay. So let me now just for a better illustration try to slow this down and explore an eighth note thresio and also a slower even slower version of a triplet and those also sound quite groovy okay. Let's try and explore that and eighth note thresio is where you do one and two and you do the end of the two one and two and three and four and one where you're counting eighth notes where you divide the beat by two one and two and three and four and one and two and three and four one and two and three and a little different feel because you're not imagining those ease and the urge of the sixteen which gives you a very dancy vibe. So one and two and three and four and one and two and three and four one and two quite groovy and we can also slow down the triplets as well. So the same procedure you still divide the beat by three units one and a two and a three and a four and one and a two and a but now you don't play one and a two and a three and a four and you don't do a six hits in a bar of four rather you want to do three hits in a bar of fours that'll sound like one and a two and a three and a four and one and a one and a two and a three and a four and one and a two and a three so if one trip, lit, one, trip, lit, one and two and a three and a four and a two. This is also what we call as a half note triplet. What we saw earlier, one and a two and a three and a four and a one and a two and a three. This is what we call as a quarter note triplet. The minimum triplet or the half note triplet, one and a two, 1 and 2 and a 3 and a 4, 1 and 2 and a 3 and a 4, 1 and 2 and a 3 and a 4, and if you are observing the left hand of my bongo is doing the pulse while the right hand is demonstrating all of what we are trying to explain in this lesson, that's the triplets, all the thresio and so on. Let me now move over towards the piano. So I am going to show you the thresio which is the 16th note thresio. So 1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4 and a 1 and a 2. Observe that my left hand is doing the pulse, maybe an F minor chord, right hand is doing the thresio, 1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4 and a 1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4, or maybe the left hand could do the thresio and the right hand could do something else. You could just use the thresio as a bass and then the triplet feel or the hemiola as we note. So in this instance my left hand is doing the triplet, 1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4 and a 1 and a 2 and a 3 and the right hand, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2. Now on some wind instruments or maybe a guitar, you may not have that hand freedom. What do you do there? You have to take a call as to what role you want to play. Do you want to do the hemiola or the triplet or do you want to just hold the strong pulse? But when you are playing in a band, where the band is sort of doing the triplet and you are not, you will still have to feel their triplet otherwise you will not stay in time. So it's very essential even if you don't do both the tasks together, the pulse as well as the triplet, you need to feel it with your band. So there are some other kinds of rhythms which we think are triplets but are possibly not triplets or definitely not triplets. Let me show you one very common one. You do, so you feel a lot of threes don't you, you know, sort of reminiscent of maybe this song, come to think of it. So this particular song seems to start with a lot of three accents. You go one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, four. But you see the problem at the end, it doesn't stay three, doesn't it? It's three, three, three, three and then a four at the end or else a two plus another two at the end. Let me count it for you. One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, four. One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, four. One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, four. So what is that? What is that time feel or that time signature? Well, it's neither a time feel nor a time signature. It's just an accented pattern. It's still a four by four song but I could look at it perhaps as a succession of eighth notes or a succession of sixteenth notes. If you look at it as a succession of sixteenth notes, it'll be three, three, three, three, two plus two or the same thing with an eighth note sequence. It's just that with eight notes, it'll go over two bars with sixteenth notes. It's going to go over one bar. Okay. Has a very steady pulse in my left hand if observe three fourths, actually a four by four and my right hand's doing sixteenths, one E and a two E and a. Another thing which sometimes we confuse as triplets are dotted notes. So very specifically dotted quavers or dotted eighth notes as we call them. So a dotted sequence or dotted rhythm sequence is more like a pulse. You feel that against the other pulse. So if I just demonstrate it on the bongo, you'll have something like this will be the pulse and a dotted note is going to be one E and a two E and a three E and a four E and a one E and a two E and a three E and a four E and a one E and you see what's happening. There's no real resolution as such. It's taking a long, long time to resolve. Actually it takes about three bars to resolve. Sometimes it feels like a three, three time signature and then a four polyrhythm over that it depends on how you think about it. So very important that you have an idea of all these three things as you pursue your music learning. First off, when you hear a song, pulse, very, very important. Feel the pulse, whatever it is, the pulse and also the time signature. Then figure out the division system. Is the artist dividing by two, by three or by four? You have to figure that out. And then you have to see within the division system is it exactly divided by something by three or in today, in this lesson, we've looked at triplets. So divide by three or is it like an irregular division? If it's an irregular division, it's going to be something like an accent, like what we saw as the Thresio, you know, one E and a two E and a three E, which is also very, very cool, by the way, right? You use all the rhythms which I've talked about in like tons of songs, right? Guys, I hope you found the lesson useful. Again, this is Jason here from Nathaniel School of Music. All of these notes are downloadable. 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