A triplet divides a beat — or any value — into three equal parts instead of two, marked with a bracket and the number 3. Three eighth notes under a triplet bracket take up one beat in total, not one and a half.
Western note values are built entirely on halving: one splits into two, and two into four. Three equal parts cannot be written with note heads alone, so it takes a sign — write three eighth notes, then bracket them with a 3 to say the three of them add up to one beat.
Three notes inside one beat, then an ordinary one-beat note.
The reliable way to count a triplet is a three-syllable word rather than the numbers 1-2-3, which tend to get pulled back toward the pulse. "Tri-pl-et" and "e-ven-ly" both work. What matters is that all three are the same length.
Written
Total
Each note
Eighth-note triplet
1 beat
⅓ beat
Quarter-note triplet
2 beats
⅔ beat
Sixteenth-note triplet
½ beat
⅙ beat
Common questions
How do you count triplets?
Tap the beat with your foot and fit one three-syllable word, such as “tri-pl-et”, into each tap. The three syllables must be exactly equally spaced.
How many beats is a triplet?
It depends on the note value. With the quarter note as the beat, an eighth-note triplet lasts one beat in all, a quarter-note triplet two, and a sixteenth-note triplet half a beat.
What is a quarter-note triplet?
Three quarter notes squeezed into the time of two, so the group lasts two beats and each note ⅔ of a beat. It gives a three-against-two feel across the pulse.