Chapter 10: Playing in 6 / 8 and learning triplets.

At this point you should be comfortable playing a phrase in 4/4 with the snare drum on beats '2'
and '4' without having to count. You should be getting to the point where you can feel where beat '1' is
in a measure and can accurately play fills with the crash landing on beat '1'. So it seems like a good
time to totally throw you off and introduce a new time signature! Just kidding, this won't make playing
a 4/4 time signature any more difficult, and honestly you should be well prepared to learn to play some
phrases in a 6/8 time signature.
The first thing to understand about a different time signature is what exactly those numbers
mean, so let's take a look.

This is one measure in a 3/4 time signature. The top number denotes how many beats there are
in a measure, and the bottom number denotes the subdivision of the notes. So in a 3/4 time signature
there are three quarter notes per measure, and you would count the measures as '1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 etc.'
Now the question most students have is “what's the difference between a 3/4 time signature and a 6/8
time signature?” The answer is that technically, there is none, but musically, it usually has to do with
the back beat of the song. Here's an example, if you have a phrase like:

This is a waltz, it has a repetitive motion that repeats every three beats, therefor, the 3/4 time
signature. However, if you have something like this:

The back beat falls on beat '4' of the measure, and the pattern doesn't actively repeat after 6
beats. Generally the identical time signatures and which one to choose are up to the discretion of the
composer and the feel of the song. Once you start learning more songs and referring to the different
time signatures for those songs it will become more clear. In the meantime, let's get comfortable
playing some phrases in 6/8! Play each of the following phrases at least 20 times.

These are just very basic phrases in 6/8 so we can learn what it feels like to play a bar of six
beats. With enough practice playing a 3/4 or a 6/8 time signature shouldn't be any more difficult than
playing something in a 4/4. We will look at incorporating 16th notes into phrases in 6/8 in a later
chapter, for now keep it easy and get the feel.
Since we're on the subject of odd meters, I feel like now would also be a good time to introduce
you to playing triplets. We're going to look at 8th note triplets and 16th note triplets, and will also look at
playing some fills with 16th note triplets. We are slightly changing gears here, as we are going back to a
4/4 time signature for the introduction of these new subdivisions.
First let's talk about how triplets work and how they are counted. I strongly recommend getting
out your metronome for this, as it will help you understand what triplets sound like and how to start
counting them. When I teach triplets to new students I always stress the importance of learning to
HEAR the triplets before you attempt to play them. Let's look at how to do this. First off, it's important
to understand that there are three eight note triplets per quarter beat and three sixteenth notes triplets
per eighth beat (or six sixteenth note triplets per quarter beat.) The most common way to count triplets
is “one-trip-let, two-trip-let...” etc. Here's what a measure of eighth note triplets looks like. Remember,
we're back to a 4/4 time signature here.
 Most students find that eighth note triplets are harder to count and hear than sixteenth note
triplets, this tends to be especially true if you're listening to the tempo with an eighth note pulse. I
recommend setting your metronome to 70-90 BPM and setting the count to eighth note triplets. Listen
to the count for a while, get a feel for it, then switch the count to a quarter note pulse and see if you can
clap your hands to the rhythm as eighth note triplets (or click your sticks or play the snare drum.) This
is not an easy thing to do, when you got odd numbers and even numbers mixing together the brain
seems to have a harder time hearing the intervals accurately. Be patient and practice this and it will
make a world of difference when we go to use these odd subdivisions in fills.
Here's a measure of sixteenth note triplets. Use the same process just mentioned to learn to hear
and count sixteenth note triplets before you attempt the fills at the end of this chapter.

Sometimes you'll see these written out in groups of six with a '6' over the notation instead of the
'3'. Once you've gotten to a point where you feel pretty comfortable hearing the triplets let's try a few
exercises to work on switching between eighth notes and the two different triplet subdivisions. Play
each exercise at least 20 times.
 If you've taken the time to learn to count out eight note and sixteenth note triplets, and you've
played through the exercises, you should be ready to try a few fills. Note how if we play three beats on
the snare and then move to the rack tom we will be moving with our LEFT HAND. A good way to get
used to this motion is to practice the following exercise.

Remember everything we've talked about in previous chapters, about using different phrases,
playing fills in blocks of four or eight measures, and playing at different tempos. Triplet fills are
extremely effective in bringing songs into half time feels or transitioning into more intense parts of a
song or huge outro's. They are really fun to play also! Learn to play the following fills and then practice
playing them in phrases. For fills that are shorter than a measure I have taken a basic phrase to help you
understand the placement, remember to try different phrases as well! We are keeping our basic right/left
sticking pattern for these fills, don't double up on a hand. One last thing before you get started: since
we are working with odd numbers you may find that the last beat of the fill ends with your right hand,
when this happens, you'll want to learn to crash with your left! We're taking on quite a few new idea's
in this chapter, spend some time on it and it will be worth it! Learn to play the following fills.