Question about triplets

[Muffinhead]

I know next to nothing about music, but thanks to this forum, I am learning more and more each day. I have been seeing the word triplet and I looked it up. In a nutshell I learned that a triplet is three notes played in the time of two.

So, in very simplistic terms, can using hammer ons and pull offs be triplets?

Now, with that being said, and me possibly showing my ignorance, are there any good online music classes that teach music theory for a beginner who is also a senior citizen? I learned how to read music 50 years ago and have never put it to use. I can find the notes of the treble staff because I remember "every good boy deserves favor" and "face". The bass staff I do not know. I have a lot to catch up on.

When I was taking guitar lessons, my teacher taught me the chord shapes and how to play them, but I wanted to know why an Am chord is a minor and why a G7 is a 7th. My teacher never touched on any of that.

[HHP]

Technically, a triplet is 3 notes played in the span of 1 beat. It can be done by picking, hammering, pulling, or any combination. If you listen to Irish music, you will hear a lot of picked triplets. A related technique is a roll that might be between 4 and 6 notes played in the span of a beat.

Here's a good example....

[stanron]

It's a few years since I did a search like

music theory online free

but here are some that look promising. The UK ABRSM syllabus, Grades 1 to five cover the basics.

http://www.mymusictheory.com/

Here's one for the iphone

http://www.musictheory.net/

some others I've not tried

http://www.musictheoryvideos.com/

http://www.musictheory.net/lessons

http://musictheoryhelp.co.uk/

There are loads more from the above search. Try them until you find one you like. Good luck.

[rick-slo]

Three units in over the time duration of two units. Not necessarily three notes. Not necessarily filling the time of one beat.
For example three sixteenth notes played in the time it would other wise take to play two sixteenth notes (an eight note), or for example a sixteenth plus and eighth note (perhaps think of it as two tied sixteenth notes) played in the time it would other wise take to play a single eight note.

[LeftArm]

The Skeptical Guitarist books are good for theory and how it relates to the guitar.
Music Principles for the Skeptical Guitarist Volume One: The Big Picture
http://www.skepticalguitarist.com/

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Muffinhead

I know next to nothing about music, but thanks to this forum, I am learning more and more each day. I have been seeing the word triplet and I looked it up. In a nutshell I learned that a triplet is three notes played in the time of two.

Right - that's all it is.

Originally Posted by Muffinhead

So, in very simplistic terms, can using hammer ons and pull offs be triplets?

Sure - triplets can be played with any technique.
You're confusing a rhythm notation question with a technical issue.

Originally Posted by Muffinhead

Now, with that being said, and me possibly showing my ignorance, are there any good online music classes that teach music theory for a beginner who is also a senior citizen? I learned how to read music 50 years ago and have never put it to use. I can find the notes of the treble staff because I remember "every good boy deserves favor" and "face".

See above - stanron's links are good, and there are other similar ones:
http://www.dolmetsch.com/theoryintro.htm
http://www.teoria.com/en/tutorials/

There's also this great thread by one of the most qualified posters on any forum:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/ind...x-toc.1371119/

And this too:
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum...d.php?t=503032

In fact, there's a bewildering array of free resources out there. My advice is to pick one simple topic (that you already know something about), and check how each of those sites (including stanron's links) treats it. You'll soon get a feel for which ones you want to continue reading.
It's always good to get as many different perspectives on every topic as you can, because the more agreement you find the more sure you can be that you have the right info.

Originally Posted by Muffinhead

The bass staff I do not know.

You only need that if you're playing bass, or studying piano - although it is useful on many theory sites (and books) which use piano notation to explain chords etc. (But it's easy enough to learn the notes.)

Originally Posted by Muffinhead

When I was taking guitar lessons, my teacher taught me the chord shapes and how to play them, but I wanted to know why an Am chord is a minor and why a G7 is a 7th. My teacher never touched on any of that.

Allow me!

Firstly we build chords by taking alternate steps from a scale. It could be any scale, and we can start from any step. But we call the step we start from "1" (the chord "root"), and add the 3rd and 5th notes counted up from there. This gives us a basic "triad" chord - meaning 3 different notes, although on guitar we usually double some of those up to fill the strings.
It's important here to know the difference between a scale "tonic" (keynote or tonal centre) and a chord "root". Any note of a 7-note scale can be a chord root.
The distance between any two notes is called an "interval", and intervals get their names from the note count, and secondly from the number of half-steps between them. The same note count could measure different numbers of half-steps.
Some intervals are "perfect" (they come usually in just one size, although can sometimes be "augmented" or "diminished"), while others come in two common sizes: a larger one (major) and smaller (minor) - half-step difference in each case.
Eg, A-C, A-C#, Ab-C, A#-C# = all "3rds" because ABC is 3 letters. But some are 4 half-steps apart ("major 3rd) and some are only 3 ("minor 3rd").

Chord symbol shorthand assumes a major triad as the default. So the letter "A" on its own means a major 3rd (A-C#) and perfect 5th (A-E). When we need to indicate a minor chord, we use "m" or "min" to indicate the different (smaller) 3rd. The perfect 5th is the same.
The effect of that major-minor difference is so significant ("happy"/"sad") that we name scales and chords after their 3rds. (A "major scale" is one with a major 3rd; a "minor scale" is one with a minor 3rd.)

So an Am chord is "minor" because of its "3rd". The distance between the root (A, 1st) and the next note up (C) measures 3 half-steps. (Remember the tuning of guitar means we can't always "voice" chords in the theoretical 1-3-5 order. It doesn't really matter which order the 3 notes (A-C-E) go in, they still make an Am chord.)
-0- = E = 5th
-1- = C = 3rd (change this to C# to hear the "major" difference )
-2- = A = root
-2- = E = 5th
-0- = A = root
(0- = E = 5th)

...

"G7" is a 7th, basically because the 7th note up the scale (F) has been added. (1-3-5-7 = G-B-D-F)

The complication is that 7ths - like 3rds - come in major and minor sizes.
major 7th = 11 half-steps from the root;
minor 7th = 10 half-steps from the root.

As you might imagine, we could hit problems describing chords with different combinations of 3rd and 7th - all four permutations occur, and chord names would become a bit of a mouthful!
So the shorthand system takes the most common 7th (the minor 7th) as the default. That means a plain figure "7" indicates this smaller 7th.
When we want the larger 7th we use the word "maj".
Hence:
"G7" = G major triad (G-B-D) plus minor 7th (F) (default);
"Gmaj7" = G major triad (G-B-D) plus major 7th (F#);
"Gm7" = G minor triad (G-Bb-D) plus minor 7th (F) ("m" meaning the smaller 3rd)
"Gm(maj7)" = G minor triad (G-Bb-D) plus major 7th (F#).

The last one is the rarest, so the more complicated name is OK. The most common permutations of 3rds and 7ths get the simplest names.
...

BTW, you will often see G7 described as a "dominant 7th", or just "dominant".
This derives from the name of the 5th scale degree, which has been known as "dominant" for centuries (the 1st scale degree being the "tonic").
If we take the major scale and build a chord on its 5th (V or dominant) degree - using alternate notes from the same scale - we get this unique kind of chord: a major triad with a minor 7th. (We also get major chords on the I and IV degrees, but they each get a major 7th.)
In key of C major, C (CEG) is the tonic chord (I), F (FAC) is subdominant (IV), and G (GBD) is dominant (V).
Add 7ths and we get "Cmaj7" (C-E-G-B), "Fmaj7" (F-A-C-E) and "G7" (G-B-D-F).
We don't really use the terms "tonic 7th" or "subdominant 7th", because they are the same kind of chord. But the "dominant 7th" type is unique, and is also the most common kind of 7th chord. The shorthand term "dominant" (or dom7) is so common that many people assume "dominant" refers to the 7th interval itself - it doesn't! It's just a hangover from the ancient name for the V scale degree where the chord originates.

[JonPR]

These charts should help show how different chord types arise depending on which scale degree you start on:

 Half-steps: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 
Major scale: C     D     E  F     G     A     B  C     D     E  F 
CHORDS:
  I = C      C  .  .  .  E  .  .  G
 ii = Dm           D  .  .  F  .  .  .  A
iii = Em                 E  .  .  G  .  .  .  B
 IV = F                     F  .  .  .  A  .  .  C
  V = G                           G  .  .  .  B  .  .  D
 vi = Am                                A  .  .  C  .  .  .  E
vii = Bdim                                    B  .  .  D  .  .  F
.
 Half-steps: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Major scale: C     D     E  F     G     A     B  C     D     E  F     G     A
CHORDS:
  I = Cmaj7  C  .  .  .  E  .  .  G  .  .  .  B
 ii = Dm7          D  .  .  F  .  .  .  A  .  .  C
iii = Em7                E  .  .  G  .  .  .  B  .  .  D
 IV = Fmaj7                 F  .  .  .  A  .  .  C  .  .  .  E
  V = G7                          G  .  .  .  B  .  .  D  .  .  F
 vi = Am7                               A  .  .  C  .  .  .  E  .  .  G
vii = Bm7b5                                   B  .  .  D  .  .  F  .  .  .  A

The dots show the half-steps, so you can see which 3rds and 7ths are major or minor, and which 5ths are perfect (7 half-steps) or diminished (6 half-steps, on the vii chord only).

One thing to notice is that when we add a 7th to the Bdim chord, we don't get "Bdim7"! That's because the "dim7" label is reserved for a special chord that comes from the vii degree of harmonic minor:
B-D-F-Ab = vii chord in C minor.
The interval B-Ab is one half-step smaller than a minor 7th - which makes a "diminished 7th". Hence the name of this chord, Bdim7. It has two diminished intervals, the 5th and 7th.
Meanwhile, B-D-F-A only has one diminished interval (B-F), so is sometimes known as "half-diminished". Otherwise we compare it to "Bm7" (B-D-F#-A) and call it "Bm7b5".

[MuddyDitch]

Music Theory for Guitarists: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask (Guitar Method) Paperback – May 1, 2005
by Tom Kolb (Author)

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by MuddyDitch

Music Theory for Guitarists: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask (Guitar Method) Paperback – May 1, 2005
by Tom Kolb (Author)

Yes, that's a good one.

[Muffinhead]

Holy cow JonPR, I have learned and understood more from reading your post than I have in .... well, ever.

Thank you so very much. I wish I could make this thread a personal sticky. There are a lot of good resources listed here.

[JackH]

I am NOT an expert at music theory. I am NOT a great guitarist. But, I'll comment on your first post with what I know or think I know right now. About music theory. I've learned some chord theory over the years that allowed me to create my own fingerings of chords I didn't know how to play. If a piece of sheet music said to play a C9 and didn't have a picture of the fingering I had learned (with two charts) how to get the notes that are in a C9 chord. I would then find the notes somewhere on the fret board that I could finger. I was like a trained monkey doing something but not really knowing what or why. I recently bought the Music Theory Made Easy course by Steve Stine on guitarzoom.com. I have learned a lot of new stuff as well as now I know the "why" or "how" of some of the other stuff I had "monkeyed" with. So I recommend the course. There is also a facebook page to ask questions that I have. Several guys have helped me. Why I would prefer that course is because I can ask questions when I'm stumped. Getting a book (and that's it) may or not be written well and may not be understandable. Like anything, you don't know about that until after you have spent the money. But Steve's course works for me very well. Mostly I think because he has a great way of conveying the information to students. In the past three months I've seen TONS of courses, books, etc advertised. Some is even free. And I'm sure most of it is very good. But IMO, Steve's course is very good and worth the money.

Triplets. When played well they give music a whole new sound. Normally we have a quarter note. Then an 8th note is a quarter note cut exactly in half the amount of time between playing them. Then a 16th note is half of an eighty note. So the math is pretty basic and more importantly I'd guess 90% of the music we grow up with uses this type of timing. When a song has 4 beats per measure (4/4 time) there are 4 quarter notes counted as 1-2-3-4 with the same amount of time between each note played. I'll try to draw how triplets are played below. What you have is 3 notes played with equal amounts of time between each note. But, in one measure of 4/4 time (4 notes in one measure) you can have 12 notes (3 notes per beat).

BEATs (1/4 notes): 1 -----------2 ------------3-----------4 -----------1
Triplets: 1 --2 --3 ---1 -- 2 -- 3 ---1 -- 2 --3 1 -- 2 -- 3 1

PS
When I clicked "submit" the triplet beats didn't line up with the quarter note beats right above them. Just picture the "1" beat of each triplet being at the same time (under) as the "1" beat of the 4/4 timing. Hope that makes sense.


Then if you want to get crazy you can add a triplet under the 1 and 2 beats of the triplet you are already playing. And you can create triplets (mathmatecally) as far down as you want or can play. The best example of triplets I've ever seen in print was some of Frank Zappa's songs in either sheet music or tabs. I saw that around 1982. I think I remember his music having triplets 3 layers down from the normal 4/4 timing. It was a long time ago though. In my example above you see notes 1, 2, 3 in equal time between them in the same time as the one quarter notes (that you would normally count 1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4, etc.) are played. There doesn't need to be a note played on every triplet beat. You can play a note on the 1 and the 3 beat with a "rest" on beat 2. The thing to understand is the timing of when the notes (or rests) occur. I was taking lessons many years ago and the instructor made me learn one bluegrass lick that had one triplet in it at the very end. That one example showed how looking at the music with triplets on paper and understanding what you are looking at is one thing. Understanding it mathematically I mean. But when playing it you need to "feel or hear" the timing change to play it smoothly. It would help to hear triplets played. But I guess that is true of any music.

I don't know any more that that and I hope it is accurate AND understandable.

Jack