This excerpt is taken from the complete article that appears in the December 2015 issue,
which is available here.

Strictly Technique

Quintuplets

Part 1: The Basics

Some may think of quintuplets—groups of five notes in the space of a quarter note—as an unusual rhythm reserved for the technical folks playing math music. But quintuplets aren’t that different from triplets (which weren’t always commonplace), and it’s possible for us to use them in musical ways to increase our vocabulary.

There are resources that dig deep into using the partials of quintuplets to create polyrhythms and such, but I want to focus on some practical applications of this rhythmic grouping. We will get better acquainted with quintuplets through accent patterns, and then we’ll play them with familiar rhythms, so we’ll learn to feel the transition into and out of quintuplets. After you work through these exercises, you should find that the quintuplet becomes part of your vocabulary, coming out naturally in different musical contexts.

Check out a video demo below.

Bill Bachman

For the complete review, check out the December 2015 issue, which is available here.