In this article, we will discuss triplets and how to apply them on the drums. We will also give our favourite triplet exercises on the drums.

Essentially, a triplet is a pair of rhythms. A triplet is three measures played at the same time. A set of triplets can be played in all parts of the drum set in the same tempo. A group of triplets is called a group of Triplets.

A Triplet Exercise is a rhythm progression that provides you with triplets. The repetition of three is very powerful and has many uses in music.

There are over 100 forms of triplet in drumming. This can vary from smaller triplets in the double ride cymbal to full-blown triplet exercises playing some of the most popular percussion hits on the instrument.

How do you Play Triplets on the Drums?

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You should always approach a triplet exercise with humility and belief. You must feel confident that you can play triplets before you even attempt it. Here are the most basic triplet exercises you can play.

This exercise will ensure you have the basics of how to play a triplet. It will also put a structure on a triplet into your hands.

You can play this by first picking a comfortable triplet pattern, in our example, this is a driving pattern. You can then copy the basic pattern across the whole drumset in a double ride cymbal, then play the beat without any aids and you will have copied the triplet pattern.

One of the great advantages of triplets is that they provide a sound, unlike standard 2/4. You can use triplets in regular 4/4 time signatures too, which will help you gain proficiency at playing triplets on the drums.

Playing triplets on the snare drum

This is one of the easiest triplet exercises to play to start.

It is something that really helps you get to grips with triplets. Play along to a recording and play the three notes at once. It is also a great way to play triplets when you are playing along with a backing track.

Triplets are a great way to help you practice your regular triplet pattern. Also, when you need to teach yourself a new triplet pattern, this will really get you going.

This exercise is a good way to get more speed in your playing. Like many of the triplet exercises, this can be played in many different sticking patterns.

Let’s start with RLR LRL (R = right, L = left).

When playing triplets on the snare you can use this to get you going on triplet patterns. It is also a great way to play triplets with cymbals and other drums too.

Combining triplets with other drums

Let’s put our right hand now on the ride cymbal and keep our hand on the snare drum.

This is a challenging exercise that really gives a feel of triplets playing over the same groove. It can also be a great way to learn a new triplet pattern. You can hear a sample of this in the video above.

Triplets with different stickings

Here is another good exercise for drummers to practice triplet patterns. It’s also great to use triplets on the hi-hat too.

This exercise uses a sticking pattern of:

RLR RLR RLR RLR

Now work on repeating the triplets until you can hear the triplets perfectly.

This pattern is actually the basis of a shuffle groove, which is used in many types of music and is an essential groove to work on as a drummer.

It is amazing what you can accomplish when you focus on practicing the triplets and not on what comes next. If you do this right, you will become so good that you will no longer be able to hear the triplet patterns.

How to hit the drums

There are two basic components of hitting a drum. There is the contact of the hands with the drum, and the impact of the strike into the skin.

The contact is a result of the way the hands are positioned, which changes the feel of the stroke. First and foremost, we should pay attention to the way we feel the stroke in the hands.

Try to take a moment and feel the play at different positions, and try to adjust the position of the hands in response to the feel of the stroke. This will help with consistency.

The idea is to allow the hands to move with the play. The contact is created by the contact with the skin, but that is only one side of the contact. The other is the contact with the body. The hands move in response to the body, and the body moves in response to the hands. This creates the feeling of the stroke.

Best of luck, and stay tuned for the next article.