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triplet in 6/8

in 6/8 time sig. how many eighth note triplets are there?
i know in 4/4 a quarter note gets one full triplet,therefore
in one measure max. number of eighth note triplet is 4...
does that work in 6/8?does each eighth note in 6/8 get a triplet ?

also what about sixteenth note triplet?

Re: triplet in 6/8

Reply #1 –
In 6/8 time there will be 6 eighth notes in each measure.
If you make the eighth notes into triplets you will need 3 groups of eighth triplets to fill the measure.
Making it a false 9/8 measure.
So in 6/8 time 6 eighth notes without triplets is correct.

Re: triplet in 6/8

Reply #2 –
For purposes of quantizing, 6/8 and 9/8 don't have ANY triplets in them. A triplet is properly a group of three notes played in the space of 2 notes of the same value (and braced as a triplet). So, three quarter notes (as a triplet) take the place of 2 regular quarter notes. If you're in 6/8 and actually using the triplet figure, you're doing it wrong. It's really just 6 eighth notes in straight time.

Re: triplet in 6/8

Reply #3 –
You're dealing with composed measures. In such, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8 (not 3/8) the count of "time" is respectively 2, 3, 4. Each time is divided into 3 equal parts, NOT notated as triplets. And you can (or could, since NWC doens't support it yet) divide by 2 instead of 3 : this is called a duolet (in french).
In that latter case, you can have the exact sound by writing them as two dotted-eighth notes. This can be understood by the performer, though rather unusual. I think that the subject has already been discussed, but can't remember when.
Hope this helps.
            Dominique

Re: triplet in 6/8

Reply #4 –
how many beats does a half note get in 6/8 time?  Is it four?

Re: triplet in 6/8

Reply #5 –
Technically, a half-note can't even exist in 6/8, since it would always straddle the "imaginary barline" in the middle of the bar. The duration of a half note would therefore be displayed as a dotted quarter tied to an eighth note.

As to how many beats it get, it depends on whether you're counting "six to a bar" (ONE two three FOUR five six), in which case it would indeed take four such beats. However, it's often more convenient to view 6/8 as two tripletted groups, and you'll find people counting it "ONE - and - ah TWO - and - ah".