Triplet phrases: snare drum only
Lesson time: (7min 1sec)
Alex Reeves moves from straight sixteenths into triplets, playing them hand to hand on the snare so you can feel the difference between dividing the beat in two and in three.
Course preview
This lesson is part of the course Fills In Time: Drum Fills & Time-Feel in 15 Lessons
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
Lesson Eight: Playing Triplets
In this lesson, we're going to be looking at playing triplets.
Introduction
To start off, we'll focus on the snare drum only. Here we are in the middle of the room with a snare drum alone, so we can concentrate on the task at hand without the temptation of the bass drum, toms, and cymbals.
Getting Started with Triplets
Before you play the exercises, spend a little time getting used to playing triplets to a pulse.
- You'll be playing all of these hand to hand:
- Right, left, right, left, etc.
Eighth Note Triplets
With the eighth note triplets:
- The lead hand will land on the 1 and the 3.
- The following hand will land on the 2 and the 4.
Sixteenth Note Triplets
Before you play the sixteenth note triplets, lock your lead hand onto the click playing eighth note triplets like this:
- When you move to the sixteenth note triplets, count:
- 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
- 1 triplet 2, triplet 3, triplet 4
- triplet 1, triplet 2, triplet 3, triplet 4
- triplet 1 and 2, 3 and 4.
Once you're relatively comfortable with this, move on to the exercises. These are designed to help you change between a straight rhythm and triplets.
Moving to the Kit
Only when you're comfortable with the basic ideas on a snare drum should you move to the kit. Here, I demonstrate a couple of the exercises with some interpretations added.
- These are some basic ideas, but there are many. Try as many as you can in your own practice time.
- Remember, use your imagination and you'll come up with a sound of your own.
Importance of 128 Time
Playing in 128 time is fundamental to understanding triplets. Here, I play a 128 groove with some of my own ideas.
- The rest of the track was written and added after the drums were recorded.
Happy practicing!
About the instructor
Alex is a freelance musician who has performed live and in the studio with artists as diverse as Dizzee Rascal, Unkle, Bat for Lashes, Guy Garvey and Elbow. He has played headline slots at all the major UK festivals, including televised appearances on Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage, Oxygen Main Stage and T In The Park. International TV performances also include Live on MTV, the Jools Holland Hootenanny and The BBC Electric Proms with Dizzee Rascal. On stage Alex has played with artists who have scored number one singles and albums all over the world, including Boy George, The Jones Girls and Johnny Hates Jazz. Alex has also been Musical Director for Island Records' Cocknbullkid, produced an album for Lotte Mullan, and performed live with Mercury nominated rapper Ty, American Blues legend Earl Thomas and singer-songwriter Ezio. Alex has recorded in all the major studios in London, including Abbey Road, Angel, Air and Rak, and runs his own private drum studio from East London's Fortress complex. Recorded highlights at The Drum Fortress include the top 5 single Shine with the Lovefreekz, Wretch 32's Breathe, UNKLE's collaboration with Nick Cave and the beat for American rapper Nas's single Nasty. He has also played drums and percussion on major TV adverts for companies that include McDonalds, X-Box and Toyota, provided beats for computer games like Sega Rally 2 and Shellshock 2, and appeared on many TV and film soundtracks, including the major release of Brideshead Revisited. Alex writes a regular tuition column for Drummer magazine, has written a book with accompanying DVD, and recorded a 1960s funk breaks sample CD. In his MusicGurus course, Fills In Time, he distils all that studio and stage experience into 15 quick lessons that sharpen your time-feel and build a vocabulary of drum fills you can drop straight into your own playing. And yes - he still calls his mum every week. read more