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By A-R's house editors
“Tuplet”[1] is a general term for rhythmic groupings of notes that are irregular in comparison to the prevailing meter—for example, a triplet of eighth or quarter notes with a simple duple meter like 2/4 or 4/4, or a duplet or quadruplet of eighth notes in a compound meter like 6/8 or 9/8. Except in very unusual cases, such groupings should be labeled with a numeral that clarifies the grouping (e.g., “3” for a triplet, “2” for a duplet, etc.). This post enumerates some general rules for the notation of tuplets within A-R’s house style, illustrated by examples from our volumes.
- In instrumental parts, the tuplet numeral should always be placed at the stem or beam end of the notes involved (see examples 1–5 below).
- In vocal parts, the tuplet numeral should always be placed above the notes involved, to avoid interfering with the underlaid text (see examples 6–8 below).
- Tuplet groupings with three or more subdivisions are always written with the lowest note value needed to overfill the rhythmic space they occupy. Examples:
- A triplet filling the space of a quarter note is written with three eighth notes.
- A triplet filling the space of an eighth note is written with three sixteenth notes.
- A quintuplet filling the space of a quarter note is written with five sixteenth notes (see example 5 below). Not five 32nds, which would make the measure underfilled. Not five eighths, as five sixteenths are already sufficient to overfill the space of a quarter note.
- Any changes to the source notation of tuplets, including the emendation of rhythmic values to conform to the above guidelines, should be described in the editorial methods or critical notes.
- In a tuplet involving unbeamed note values (quarters, halves, etc.), a horizontal bracket with the appropriate numeral should enclose the notes involved (see example 2). Again, the bracket and numeral are placed at the stem end in instrumental parts, above the notes in vocal parts.
- No bracket is used with the tuplet numeral if the notes of the tuplet are beamed values (eighths, sixteenths, etc.) except when:
- At the least one rest is included in the tuplet (see examples 1 and 6); or
- The tuplet is in a vocal part, with the beam split for separate syllables (see examples 6–8).
- In passages where there are several tuplets in a row, the numeral may be dropped after a few occurrences (see example 4 below). The number of occurrences will depend on the musical context and the editor’s judgment. If the pattern is broken by intervening notes or rests of a different value, the numeral must always be reinstated if the pattern returns (see examples 4 and 6 below). The numeral may, however, be retained for more than a few consecutive occurrences at the editor’s discretion if deemed helpful for clarity. For instance, in a series of tuplets indicated by brackets, or when rests are regularly interpolated into a tuplet patten, it is generally best to retain the label (examples 1, 2, and 9).
- A tuplet involving beamed note values should never be beamed to other notes of the same base value unless differentiated by way of primary and secondary beaming (see example 3).
- Some manuscripts and older publications use a short slur-like curve in conjunction with a numeral to illustrate triplets. The slur-like curve should not be included in the transcription unless there is reason to believe it is indeed functioning as a slur or phrase mark (and it usually is not).
- If a source lacks tuplet numerals, they may be tacitly added as long as there is a statement to that effect in the editorial methods. Otherwise, they should be enclosed in square brackets (example 7).
Instrumental Examples
Example 1. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Symphonic Variations on an African Air, Op. 63, mm. 300–303, ed. John L. Snyder (N043), showing various eighth-note triplets.
Example 2. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Symphonic Variations on an African Air, Op. 63, mm. 113–19 (strings), ed. John L. Snyder (N043), showing duplets on unbeamed note values. The time signature is 3/4.
Example 3. Georg Reutter the Younger, “Auf zum Werk!,” mm. 10–12, from Mater dolorum, ed. Janet K. Page (B240), showing triplets on beamed values connected to each other using primary beams.
Example 4. Franz Weiss, String Quartet in G Major, Op. 8, no. 1, movement IV, mm. 269–78, from Two String Quartets, Op. 8 (“Razumovsky”), ed. Mark Ferraguto (N090). The triplet numeral “3” is dropped from violin 2 in m. 276, as by then a pattern of triplets has been established in that part.
Example 5. Allen Sapp, Violin Sonata III, movement I, mm. 59–62, from Violin Sonatas I–IV and Viola Sonata, ed. Alan Green (A092). The time signature in this passage is 3/8, so the piano’s sixteenth-note quintuplets in mm. 59 and 61 fill a quarter note each, and the 10-tuplet in m. 62 is correctly notated as sixteenth notes (3/8 = six sixteenth notes = twelve 32nd notes; the use of 32nd notes for a 10-tuplet would thus cause the measure to look underfilled).
Vocal Examples
Example 6. Joseph Weigl, “Verdi piagge, contrada felice,” mm. 29–31, from Venere e Adone, ed. John A. Rice (C110), showing handling of eighth-note triplets in vocal vs. instrumental parts.
Example 7. Albrecht Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, “Zum 15. Februar 1934,” mm. 30–35, from Songs for Lena, ed. Eva Mengelkoch (N092), showing an editorially added triplet numeral in a vocal part.
Example 8. Giuseppe Nicolini, “Or che la luna splende,” mm. 21–24, from Songs and Arias Ornamented by Giovanni Battista Velluti, the Last Operatic Castrato, ed. Robert Crowe (N080), showing handling of various types of tuplets in a vocal part.
Example 9. Gaspar van Weerbeke, “Ave, mundi domina,” mm. 46–55, from Ave, mundi domina, ed. Agnese Pavanello (R180). The triplet notation in the transcription of this late-fifteenth-century motet is the result of coloration in the source; since unbeamed note values are involved, the labels are retained to help clarify the extent of the coloration.
For the complete Recent Researches in Music Style Guide, click here (PDF).
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[1] The term “groupette” appears in some of our earlier volumes to refer to the same kind of rhythmic grouping, but since “tuplet” is more widely used, it has become our preferred term.
