LESSON THIRTEEN
The Triplet
A triplet is a group of three evenly spaced notes played within one beat. Eighth note triplets are indicated by three eighth notes grouped together by a bracket (or a curved line) and the numeral 3.
The eighth note triplets are played with one third of a beat each. Triplets are easy to understand once you have heard them played.
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Triplets sound great when combined with the notes of the Blues scale as shown in the following example.
Swing Rhythm
A swing rhythm can be created by tying together the first and second notes of a triplet. There are several different ways of writing swing rhythms. To understand them it is worth using one musical example written in various ways. First play the following example, which contains eighth note triplets.
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This example has the first and second notes of the triplet group tied. This gives it a swing feel.
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The two eighth note triplets tied together in the previous example can be replaced by a quarter note.
To simplify notation, it is common to replace the 6 with z, and to write at the start of the piece 6 = z as illustrated in the next example.
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The previous three examples sound exactly the same but are just written differently.
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77 | St James Infirmary |
This traditional song was made famous by Louis Armstrong and has been played by many of the great Jazz players.
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Take care with the slurs in this riff. Practice it slowly at first if you have trouble with it.
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The following final 12 Bar Blues exercise uses almost everything you have learned in the book up to this point. Practice it slowly to begin with and then try to play along with the recording. There is one new note in this example – the low Bb which occurs in bar 11.
This note uses exactly the same fingering as the Bb you already know, except that it is played with less lip pressure. Practice alternating between these two Bb notes and also the note F which is in between the two Bb notes and also uses the same fingering.
You now have enough musical knowledge to begin improvising, which means creating your own melodies as you play. Try varying the notes of some of the songs and examples in the book, and then make up some of your own phrases based on them. The 12 Bar Blues is an excellent progression for improvising, particularly with the Blues scale. Experiment and have fun!
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80 | Roll and Tumble Blues |
The Trumpet as a Transposing Instrument
There are three basic tunings for musical instruments, these being "concert" or C instruments (e.g., piano, guitar, flute or violin), B flat instruments (e.g., tenor sax, clarinet or trumpet) and E flat instruments (e.g. alto or baritone sax). What this means in practical terms is that if you play the same written note on each of these three types of instruments, a different note will sound for each of the three types.
The reason for the different tunings is the actual length of the tubing required to make the instruments themselves, along with ease of playing. The Bb and Eb instruments are referred to as transposing instruments. If you play a C note on a Bb instrument, the sound that actually comes out is a concert Bb note.
If you play a C note on an Eb instrument, the sound that actually comes out is a concert Eb note. Once you have a good knowledge of intervals, it is easy to understand the relationship between the three tunings. If you see a note written for a concert instrument (e.g., C) you would have to play a note one tone higher on a Bb instrument to get a concert C note to sound (play a D note).
To sound a concert C note on an Eb instrument, you would need to play a note a major sixth higher (an A note). This is a general transposing principle with these instruments whenever you are playing with other musicians or are reading a part written for a concert instrument. The chart below shows all concert pitch notes in the left column and the equivalent notes for Bb instruments in the center column and Eb instruments in the right column.
