The Triplet
An eighth note 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. Each part of the triplet is worth a third of a beat. Triplets are easy to understand once you have heard them played.
Triplets sound great when combined with the notes of the Blues scale. Here is a line created from Pattern 3 of the C Blues scale which makes use of triplets.
Swing Rhythms
A swing rhythm can be created by tying the first two notes of the triplet group together.
The two eighth note triplets tied together in example 44 can be replaced by a quarter note.
To simplify swing notation, it is common to replace z the with 6,and to write at the start of the piece 6 = z as illustrated in example 46.
Staccato
When playing these swing rhythms in a smoothly-connected manner, it is called legato. Another way of playing notes is called staccato. In staccato playing the notes are played short and separate. This is indicated by a dot placed above or below the note, i.e.:
In many bass lines, the use of staccato notes can add extra drive to the rhythm. The following example is written the same way as the previous example, except that the note on each beat is played staccato. Play the two examples one after the other and listen to the difference the staccato notes make to the rhythm.
There are two ways of playing a note staccato on the bass. One is to stop the note from sounding with the right hand finger which is about to play the following note, and the other is to lift the left hand finger off the fret (but not off the string). You should practice both of these techniques until you are comfortable with them.
Another way of writing the previous rhythm is to use the triplet bracket and indicate that the middle part of the triplet is a rest.
