Tuplet
In music, a tuplet (also irrational rhythm or groupings, artificial division or groupings, abnormal divisions, irregular rhythm, gruppetto, extra-metric groupings, or, rarely, contrametric rhythm) is "any rhythm that involves dividing the beat into a different number of equal subdivisions from that usually permitted by the time-signature (e.g., triplets, duplets, etc.)"[1] This is indicated by a number, or sometimes two indicating the fraction involved. The notes involved are also often grouped with a bracket or (in older notation) a slur.
This article is about the musical term. For mathematical concept, see Tuple.The most common type of tuplet is the triplet.
Terminology[edit]
The modern term 'tuplet' comes from a rebracketing of compound words like quintu(s)-(u)plet and sextu(s)-(u)plet, and from related mathematical terms such as "tuple", "-uplet" and "-plet", which are used to form terms denoting multiplets (Oxford English Dictionary, entries "multiplet", "-plet, comb. form", "-let, suffix", and "-et, suffix1"). An alternative modern term, "irrational rhythm", was originally borrowed from Greek prosody where it referred to "a syllable having a metrical value not corresponding to its actual time-value, or ... a metrical foot containing such a syllable" (Oxford English Dictionary, entry "irrational"). The term would be incorrect if used in the mathematical sense (because the note-values are rational fractions) or in the more general sense of "unreasonable, utterly illogical, absurd".
Alternative terms found occasionally are "artificial division",[2] "abnormal divisions",[3] "irregular rhythm",[4] and "irregular rhythmic groupings".[5] The term "polyrhythm" (or "polymeter"), sometimes incorrectly used instead of "tuplets", actually refers to the simultaneous use of opposing time signatures.[6]
Besides "triplet", the terms "duplet", "quadruplet", "quintuplet", "sextuplet", "septuplet", and "octuplet" are used frequently. The terms "nonuplet", "decuplet", "undecuplet", "dodecuplet", and "tredecuplet" had been suggested but up until 1925 had not caught on.[7] By 1964 the terms "nonuplet" and "decuplet" were usual, while subdivisions by greater numbers were more commonly described as "group of eleven notes", "group of twelve notes", and so on.[8]
Tuplet notation[edit]
Notation[edit]
Tuplets are typically notated either with a bracket or with a number above or below the beam if the notes are beamed together. Sometimes, the tuplet is notated with a ratio (instead of just a number) — with the first number in the ratio indicating the number of notes in the tuplet and the second number indicating the number of normal notes they have the same duration as — or with a ratio and a note value.
