4.1 – Exercises 1 & 2: Line Analysis

Ex. 1 – This is the most common and simplest way to transform an 8th-note line that starts on the beat.
All you have to do is delay the first 8th note to the offbeat, then add a triplet right after.

It works like magic.
If there’s one triplet pattern to remember from this module, it’s this one.
(Note: You’ll meet it again in the improvisation exercises in Lesson 5.)

Here are two more examples:

Additional task for Deep Divers:
Write or improvise short lines made of eighth notes (around eight notes each, like in my examples),
and then recreate each one using this triplet pattern.

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Ex. 2 – In this example, the original line already starts on an offbeat.
You could use the same technique as in Example 1, and it would look like this:

As you can see, there’s no need to delay any note because it already begins on an offbeat.
All you have to do is add a triplet after it.

Sound great, but let’s try something different here.
Move the first offbeat note to the next beat, and start directly on the beat with a triplet.

And voilà, now you’ve got two options to play with.