---
title: "Triplets: How to Count Eighth and Quarter Triplets · Piakno"
description: "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."
url: "https://piakno.com/theory/triplets"
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---

# Triplets

> 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 |

> Triplets and dotted rhythms are the pair people confuse. A dotted quarter plus an eighth is two notes, long–short. An eighth triplet is three notes, all equal. They sound nothing alike and differ on the page by one bracket — so check for the 3 before you play.

## 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.

## The course works through this in:

- [Lesson 72 · Triplets](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/72)

## Related entries

- [Note values](https://piakno.com/theory/note-values)
- [Dotted notes](https://piakno.com/theory/dotted-notes)
- [Time signature](https://piakno.com/theory/time-signature)
- [6/8 time](https://piakno.com/theory/compound-time)

- [Theory reference](https://piakno.com/theory)