Triplet Feel Notation

by Christopher Orlando
(Marmora NJ)

In the song "Feel Like Makin' Love" by Bad Company, the tempo for the first 4 bars is "quarter note equals 88" then for the verse it changes to "2 16th notes equal an 8th note and 16th note triplet" then for the chorus it is the opposite "an 8th note and 16th note triplet equals 2 16th notes" a little confusing for a non-drummer programming a drum machine! Can you clear this up please?

ANSWER

Hi, Christopher--

The tempo is 88 beats per minute throughout. The other notations mean that during the verse, the sixteenth notes are played with a "Triplet Feel"--two sixteenths are played like the first and third notes of a sixteenth note triplet. (kind of a shuffle feel).

The notation at the Chorus means that now two sixteenths are played min the ordinary "Straight" manner.

Hope this helps--let me now.

Best Wishes,
Lynne