Triplet Groupings

Here are some ideas for grouping triplets into groups of four. It is a nice way to build some tension, both in time playing and soloing and works well across three sounds on the drum kit.

If playing time, leading from the ride cymbal seems to work better, as in Exercises 1 & 2, but exercises 3 & 4 give you some alternative voicings. Particularly with Exercises 1,2 & 4, also work on adding the ride, or crash, and tieing over the last beat on the "and" of four, picking up the time again on beat two of the next bar. The next idea is to move the left hand around the kit.

In the pdf you'll find a couple of examples using the hi-hat instead of the bass drum, as well as two ideas, exercises 7 & 8, that you can use to develop solo ideas and fills of your own, by experimenting with different voicings.

This was originally posted on "Jazz Drumming Blog" and in the "Ideas for Jazz Drumming" e-book (no longer available). This post has been revised and expanded from the original.