Topaz, fluffy yip 

Is there an alternate music notation based on triple subdivisions instead of duple subdivisions?

Like if you have, say, 4/4, you can keep subdividing it by 2 because the notation works like that.

But what if I have, say, 9/8, and want to keep subdividing it in threes instead of twos? Nested Triplets, or what?

#MusicTheory

Jul 4, 2023 at 6:45amWeb
Show threadTopaz, fluffy yip Jul 4, 2023

Like, some 9/8 songs are really 3/4 with one level of triple subdivision. If the common music notation wasn't built around duple subdivisions, you wouldn't need to do anything special for compound triple meter.

#MusicTheory

Show threadJackaelopeJul 4, 2023
@topaz there’s something referred to as compound signatures. 6/8 is really a triplet feel with the dotted quarter getting the beat…. Same with 12/8. So while technically no, but you get the feeling of divisions by 3
Show threadTopaz, fluffy yip Jul 4, 2023
@jackaelope Yeah! I'm thinking like, what if I wanted to subdivide THOSE further by 3 instead of 2.
Show threadJackaelopeJul 4, 2023
@topaz your main pulse would be a dotted quarter, so you’d feel two beats each with 3 eighth notes that feel like triplets
Show threadTopaz, fluffy yip Jul 4, 2023
@jackaelope Yes, I know what 6/8 is. I'm talking about subdivisions of those individual notes.
Show threadTopaz, fluffy yip Jul 4, 2023

@jackaelope e.g. how you can divide the 8th notes into 16th notes

except triple instead of duple.

Show threadJackaelopeJul 4, 2023
@topaz it’s the pulse that does it. Normally 3/4 is 1 and 2 and 3 and where 6/8 is 1 pu let 2 pu let.. 16th notes would be 6 pulses per dotted quarter giving a 16th note triplet feel… It’s about the ratio of note that gets the beat to the divisions on top. In 4/4 quarter note gets the beat so 2 eighths per beat, in 3n/8 it’s a dotted quarter which is 3 eighths per beat. You then subdivide by 2s still but because of the pulse you feel it in sets of 3n
Show threadTopaz, fluffy yip Jul 4, 2023

@jackaelope Yeah but what if I want to subdivide by 3s instead of 2s ALL the way down?

Like, take 12/8. It's just 4/4 divided by 3 instead of 2. But there's no good way to /keep/ splitting in threes; there's always a point at which you run out of time signature and the notation defaults to 2s unless you use a fuckton of triplets.