Song For Tina – Steve Nelson

The subdivision of four equal beats in a measure of 3/4 is often confusing to explain and notate. A common mistake is the use of the term "triplet." For four notes to fit evenly in the space of three quarter notes, they must be dotted eighth notes; these are slightly slower than quarter-note triplets. There are many ways to notate this, which have slightly different effects at different tempos. For this song, as we usually do, we have notated the subdivision of four in 3/4 as quarter notes beamed together with a tuplet bracket indicated 4:3. Notating them as beamed-together dotted eighth notes, or with ties to show the beats, would be more confusing at this fast tempo.

This song actually adds a further complication to the issue of 4 against 3/4, as the A section melody has the third of the four notes extended, with the fourth delayed and more of a pick-up to the next measure. Accordingly, the four notes bracketed together in the 4:3 tuplet for each measure are two quarter notes, a dotted quarter note, and an eighth note. With swing eighth notes, this is quite similar to an eighth note followed by two quarter notes and another eighth note—but it is more even and can "float" over the beat instead of being tied to an eighth-note-based grid.

These four-note figures are used to outline descending chordal structures. This song is an example of Nelson's more impressionistic bag, with a modal A section alternating F♯ melodic minor and D dorian. The B section of this 28-measure AAB form begins with descending major 7♭5 chords, leading to a II-V7 to C minor. Piano fills from the in head of the recording are notated in the lead sheet; they continue the rhythms of the melody.