Triplet

Time & Groove

Also called triplets, triple tuplet.

A triplet is three notes played in the space where two normally fit. In 4/4, three quarter-note triplets fill a bar that normally holds four beats. Three eighth-note triplets fill one beat of quarter notes. Count "1-trip-let, 2-trip-let" and say it fast enough to hear a rolling wheel.

You will see triplets marked with a small "3" over the group. Quarter-note triplets over four beats give the rolling train feel and a lot of blues shuffles. Ballad drummers use them on the toms for big washes of sound that still land on the real beats.

The reason triplets trip people up: they bend the division of the beat for a moment, then snap back. Your foot keeps the honest beat while the triplet rolls over the top. If you lose your place in a fill, lock back onto your foot, not onto the fill.

Tip: learn the shuffle first. A shuffle is eighth notes played as triplets: you keep the first and last note of each "1-trip-let" and drop the middle one. That single rhythm is the seed of the blues, jump blues and early rock and roll.