Level 41 of 44 · Book V: Minor keys and new rhythms
Sight-reading exercises with triplets
Triplets: three eighth notes in the time of one beat, marked with a small 3 by the beam. Say “trip-uh-let” and the rhythm is there.
- Hands together
- C, G, A or E♭ major, or A or D minor
- 4/4 or 3/4 time
- = 52 to start
8 different exercises, each 8 bars. Listen first, or play it yourself: the music waits for each note.
What level 41 adds
The right hand mixes triplets with quarters, halves and a few pairs of eighths, so a beat can split in two or in three. Triplets move by step or skip. The left hand plays single bass notes, mostly long ones: wholes, halves and dotted halves. The pieces are in 4/4 or 3/4, in any key up to three sharps or flats, major or minor.
What to watch for
- The 3: without it, three beamed eighths would be too many for one beat.
- Triplets and pairs side by side: a pair of eighths splits the beat in half, a triplet in three. Don’t let one turn into the other.
- Even notes: the three notes of a triplet are the same length. The first one isn’t longer.
How to practise it
- Say “trip-uh-let” for a triplet and “one-and” for a pair of eighths.
- Keep the beat in the left hand: a triplet’s first note lands with it, and the other two fill the space before the next beat.
- Listen first: two notes in a beat and three are quicker to hear apart than to count.
Each exercise is new music, written for this level by the same generator the app uses, so you can’t have learned it by ear. Read it once before you play, keep a steady beat, and play on through mistakes. Play it yourself checks your notes from a MIDI keyboard, the mouse or your computer keys, and Print gives you the music alone, to read at the piano.
A new piece every day, at your level
Pianomi is the app these exercises come from. It listens to your MIDI keyboard, grades every note and every beat, and moves you up the 44 levels as your reading improves. It’s free.