I always count triplets as One and ahh Two and ahh Three and ahh...

I'm a  1 da duh 2 da duh man

I was taught:  1-la-lee, 2-la-lee, etc. or
1-la-lee, & la-lee, 2-la-lee, & la-lee, etc.

Kind of a similar approach to the Eastman school counting system.

1-trip-let-2-trip-let.  It seems easier for me to count this was, especially on a shuffle where it would be let-1 -- let-2 -- let-3

One and ah Two and ah Three and ah... I also say "set" and "lev" instead of "seven" and "eleven."

I was taught to count 16ths as "One ee and ah Two ee and ah..."

I would recommend not using "Ah", "and ", or "E" to count triplets because you use those to count 16ths.
Shouldn't eighth note triplets be called twelfths, twelve notes in a 4/4 measure
and quarter note triplets should be called thirds?
Wouldn't five quarter notes be called a fifth and would that open us up to alot of "fifth" jokes?

I'm with you on that.  I think maybe that might have been the initial purpose of this thread.  I never understood why one would teach the same syllable for different notes.

Oh well,

1 e & Ah  Al-Li-Ga-Tor  3 E & Ah  Al-Li-Ga-Tor

Scott ... that IS the Eastman Counting System for triplets ... no relation to the Eastman School of Music by the way, if anyone was wondering.


I usually use this method the most, but since I come in contact with all types of individuals ... I just use what works for others.

The beautiful thing about the Eastman Counting System (which by the way has been discussed before ... try searching the database), is that it provides a nice way to count sextuplets or sixteenth-note triplets in 4/4 ... which would be like this:


It all flows off the tongue very easily, which makes speed counting a breeze.

me too.  

I personally think it's not wise to count triplets as:

1 and uh  2 and uh

the reason ......

These are the same syllables used for counting sixteenth-notes. Unless it is spoken in perfect time, someone might confuse the triplets, which you mean to say, for an eighth-note followed by two sixteenth-notes. As an adult you may not find this confusing, but for a child or beginner ... it can be confusing. It's bad enough that the English language has multiple words that sound the same, and yet are spelled and mean two very different things ... let's not make matters worse.

Counting isn't just for your own practice. I have had rehearsals where other musicians ask me how a particular rhythm goes. Being able to communicate in a precise manner definitely has it's advantages. Even if someone doesn't know how to use the various syllables to count, you'll start confusing them as you try to explain something ... if you don't stay consistent.

In fact, just this past week, while recording in Hawaii, I couldn't get a straight answer about a figure that the director wanted the band to play. I was trying to ask if he wanted real quarter-note triplets or if he wanted Nashville triplets. The first being counted 1 li la  2 li la and the latter being counted 1 uh and  2 uh and. This is because a standard quarter-note triplet has three evenly spaced notes, while a "Nashville triplet" is really two dotted-eighth-notes followed by an eighth-note. I played and sang the rhythm ... but some of the musicians could not hear the difference ... which was bad enough ... but if I had used the same syllables for both examples, it would have been EVEN WORSE! Needless to say ... we got it after a few moments.

So count how it works for you, but do realize that the skills you develop now WILL come into play further down the road. You never know when you'll be asked to explain or demonstrate something.