# Best Way to Deal with Mostly Duplets in 12/8?



## Zedcars (May 19, 2019)

Hi,

I'm notating a male vocal part that has lots of duplets and quadruplets in a 12/8 piece. So, in essence, the vocal is singing in straight 4/4 time, while the rest of the band is swung.

I'm wondering if it would be better to notate the vocal part in 4/4 to avoid all the tuplets, and maybe add a rhythmic cue line to clarify that the other instrumentalists will be playing in 12/8?

Here is a snippet of the part:




This doesn't change a lot rhythmically, just lots of duplets and quadruplets throughout. Do you think this would be acceptable, or should I change the part to 4/4?

By the way, the non-duplet notes in bars 21 and 28 etc would ideally be 16th note duplets, but I notated them as 8th notes to avoid fussy notation.


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## JohnG (May 19, 2019)

Your instinct, I think is correct. I would never write that for a singer / player. It's almost all duple, as you point out. Definitely 4/4 with a triplet where necessary.


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## Zedcars (May 19, 2019)

JohnG said:


> Your instinct, I think is correct. I would never write that for a singer / player. It's almost all duple, as you point out. Definitely 4/4 with a triplet where necessary.


Thank you. OK, so now i need to go in and re-write it all...painful but necessary I guess.


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## JohnG (May 19, 2019)

Zedcars said:


> Thank you. OK, so now i need to go in and re-write it all...painful but necessary I guess.



I think you'll be a lot happier with what you get. I agree on the pain side!


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## ProfoundSilence (Jul 19, 2019)

opening on an accidental is a bold choice

f dorian/Ab lydian? Even stranger us that the accidental doesn't resolve to the Eb, so I assume it's part of a Bb or D diminished chord?

not that I'm hating on the choices, but could create intonation nightmares/awkwardness depending on the rest of the arrangement


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## Zedcars (Jul 19, 2019)

ProfoundSilence said:


> opening on an accidental is a bold choice
> 
> f dorian/Ab lydian? Even stranger us that the accidental doesn't resolve to the Eb, so I assume it's part of a Bb or D diminished chord?
> 
> not that I'm hating on the choices, but could create intonation nightmares/awkwardness depending on the rest of the arrangement


Hello. The first note is supposed to be Eb. I must have nudged it down by mistake somehow. I’ll change it. Many thanks - I’d not even noticed that!


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## ProfoundSilence (Jul 20, 2019)

Zedcars said:


> Hello. The first note is supposed to be Eb. I must have nudged it down by mistake somehow. I’ll change it. Many thanks - I’d not even noticed that!


I mean, I didn't even pay attention to the notes, but it was like peripheral vision while I was looking at rhythm caught the key signature and the D natural and was like

uh wayment.


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## anjwilson (Jul 20, 2019)

What style of piece is this from, @Zedcars?

If I saw that 12/8 excerpt in a classical score, especially 19th-century German (Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, etc) I would interpret the duplets as a kind of metrical dissonance (that may or may not resolve).

Jazz or more recent popular styles are completely different, of course.


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