Need Help With the Name of a Drum Pattern/Beat

12/8 isn't triplet based, larry. Triplet feel, yes. Confusing? Yes! That's time signatures for you though :D

I thought if my hi hat hand was playing triplets, it's triplet based music. That's not what's happening? So you're saying it's 4/4 with a triplet feel?

Sorry for the bad info! I hope no one was seriously injured or got fired because of that!

Thanks for the correction!
 
I thought if my hi hat hand was playing triplets, it's triplet based music. That's not what's happening? So you're saying it's 4/4 with a triplet feel?

Sorry for the bad info! I hope no one was seriously injured or got fired because of that!

Thanks for the correction!

'Proper' triplets can be played in 4/4, 2/4, 3/4, 5/4, etc. A triplet is 3 notes in the space of 2, i.e, 3 notes in the space of 2 eighth notes.

Generally time signatures like 6/8, 9/8, 12/8, where the top number is multiples of 3 and have an 1/8th note denominator number on the bottom are known as compound time signatures, but are not triplet based, even though they have a triplet feel to them.
 
A bar of 12/8 and a bar of triplets in 4/4 sound identical. The only difference is how it's written down.
So it seems reasonable to call the groups of threes triplets, since that's what they sound like.
 
12/8 isn't triplet based, larry. Triplet feel, yes.

I thought if my hi hat hand was playing triplets, it's triplet based music. That's not what's happening? So you're saying it's 4/4 with a triplet feel?

Technically the three-note subdivision you play in 12/8 are not triplets. To be a triplet you have to be playing three notes of a value in the place of two of the same value, indicated by a numeral three written above the notes:

8th-note-triplet-8th-notes.jpg


...which is not what's happening in 12/8. */8 meters natively have a three note subdivision. Those "triplets" in 12/8 are just 8th notes. But they sound and feel exactly like triplets, so I say */8 meters have a triplet feel. Adding the word feel keeps music theory people off your back.
 
I hear 4/4 and triplets.

I see this question from time to time and I'm usually perplexed because I don't see why people care what specific beats are "called". Very few beats have "names" and the ones that do usually just adopted slang or casual references over time. One part of the world might call it one thing and another something else.

Certain ubiquitous patterns/rhythms have names, and that's what's come up in this thread, but I'm still curious... Is it so you can ask your teacher about the rhythm later or something?
 
A bar of 12/8 and a bar of triplets in 4/4 sound identical. The only difference is how it's written down.
So it seems reasonable to call the groups of threes triplets, since that's what they sound like.

I'll also note that there are absolutely musical reasons for writing it out one way or the other, so it's not just arbitrary, though it can be.
 
This pattern could be written in 12/8 or in 4/4 with triplets, that's exactly the same.

I wouldn't call it a shuffle because he plays on all three parts of the beats, but it is actually close to a shuffle played with ghost notes.
In fact, I would call this a 12/8 feel, which it is actually. And a 12/8 feel can be written in 4/4 by using triplets.

In many cultures, what you call a "triplet" feel is called a "ternary" feel, which means "divided by three". In simple meters like 4/4, the beats are divided by two and are called binary.

These terms are used in French, but I think also in German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. I've noticed that Benny Greb also uses "ternary" for example.

A triplet – in music – is specifically a group of three notes in the space of two.
In 12/8, the 8th notes cannot be called triplets, just because they are not.
 
'Proper' triplets can be played in 4/4, 2/4, 3/4, 5/4, etc. A triplet is 3 notes in the space of 2, i.e, 3 notes in the space of 2 eighth notes.

Generally time signatures like 6/8, 9/8, 12/8, where the top number is multiples of 3 and have an 1/8th note denominator number on the bottom are known as compound time signatures, but are not triplet based, even though they have a triplet feel to them.

Hey thanks Merlin. That helped a lot. Compound time sigs. My lesson for today. Much respect.
 
I see this question from time to time and I'm usually perplexed because I don't see why people care what specific beats are "called". Very few beats have "names" and the ones that do usually just adopted slang or casual references over time. One part of the world might call it one thing and another something else.

I like the idea of having names for rhythms/beats. It would be nice if there was some sort of standard. Not having names for rhythms....to me, is like not having names of chords. There's no upside to that from what I can tell. It makes it harder to communicate musically. Not only that, but identifying and naming a rhythm makes for a more educated musician. It's much more professional sounding if I asked someone to play chords over say a Bo Diddley or clave rhythm than playing chords over a beat that sounds like boom boom boom, bat bat....
 
Where I have difficulty is when a drum part 'falls between the cracks'. Take James Brown's cover of Think. Play it as a triplet, it's too far one way; play it straight it's too far the other way. It's that difficult-to-define area that's somewhere in between. On paper it's not a difficult beat, but it's the between-the-cracks feel that's a bugger to nail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bqK7meoDCs
 
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