Linear "Bonham" Triplets poll and discussion

It's also interesting to see that not one person placed the kick on the 2nd partial. You humans are interesting.

Someone did though:

hyruleherojoe said:
Hey Larry! This is a great post as triplets are my favorite thing to whip out while drumming.

1) Right Handed

2) I play the triplets differently whenever I feel the need to. I have no preference, but I lead with the left only if the kick follows right after.

3) Default setting would be RLK, it just seems to flow naturally for me.

4) I actually change it up as much as possible. I love starting with LKR then just doing whatever else.

A good lick I love doing is LKRLKRLK LKRLKRLK play them as 16 note triplets or what have you.

Me:
1) Right Handed
2-4) I mostly play mixtures of RLK and LRK. I like to accent one hand and play
the quiet one on the snare drum, so RlK and LrK.

I also like to mix up 3 note figures and 4 note figures in triplets, like RllK, rrLK
or RKLK. Or also the famous RLKK of course.

On the other hand, playing the "triplets" as 16ths or 32s is interesting, too.
 
Interesting subject.

I remember the satisfaction as a young drummer, in the days before YouTube and instructional DVDs, of finally working out from records what Bonham was doing.

Also in the years that followed, I was fascinated to learn he'd probably picked the lick up from great jazz drummers like Max Roach.

As for the poll:

1. Right-handed

2. Mostly the same every time

3. Right hand, or Kick, but always using the RLK sequence with R being the first note of the triplet

4. RLK (or sometimes RKK using a double pedal) although this post has reminded me to practice all the different stickings!

On a related Tony Williams-eque/triplet subject, it's also worth mixing the stickings up on the swiss triplet.

For a long time, I played mainly Flam/R/L

But R/Flam/L and especially R/L/Flam have great uses also...
 
In high school, we used to call them Gadd-rolls... I think he usually went with KLR...

It's also interesting to see that not one person placed the kick on the 2nd partial. You humans are interesting.

My favorite is RKR, LKL, RKR, LKL...
 
Left handed but playing right handed

I do them all but more comfortable with left hand lead

Like to do klrkrl a lot
Try to do kick hat ride :)
 
OK, from a NOOB...

1. R
2. N/A - Just tried this tonight.
3. R
4. RLK

This was much easier starting with my R hand and felt natural. Leading with my left hand was awkward and I made more mistakes.

I'm right handed but left eyed dominant. I shot rifles left handed in the military but handguns I shot right handed and used my left eye. Probably why I ended up being a medic... LOL.

EDIT: Kind of a weird observation, when I play traditional leading with my right seems natural but when I switched to match (just learning match grip) leading with my left was significantly easier and I was faster and smoother almost immediately.
 
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I consciously moved away from the "Bonham" triplets years ago because every else was doing them (as with "quads" as well). The "RLF" pattern was actually one of the first cool patterns I ever played on the kit, it is the technique used on the intro to "Over the mountain" by Ozzy.

My take on it:

RFF or LFF

FFl or FFR

The thing with these patterns is that they can be strung together at very high speeds. They can be phrased as triplets or 16ths quite easily.

The feet can be played with either single or double pedal, depending upon tempo and feel desired. Playing it with one foot gives a more funk, fusion feel while the double pedal makes it more rock/metal.

If you play double pedal, you can go nuts by throwing in 4 strokes on the kicks instead of 2, this will flip the pattern around. At that point, you will have the ability to hit the down beat or the upbeat with an accent and you can build your own accent patterns to fit the music you are working on.

Using this pattern, you can very easily play an accented triplet pattern with your hands on the snare, for example, and then copy that same accent pattern on to the toms and kick using the building blocks described above.
 
for the record I have never heard a half time shuffle referred to as the "Rosanna Shuffle" unless specifically speaking on the one that Jeff played with the clave-ish bass drum pattern ....

I have heard it referred to as the Purdie shuffle and funk shuffle though

I guess what I mean is that it's one of the more famous half-time shuffles. Wasn't saying that all half time shuffles are referred to as the Rosanna. And yes, the bass drum pattern sets it apart from others. I think he referred to it as a "bo-diddly" pattern.
 
1. Are you right or left handed?

left handed.

2. Do you play your linear triplets the same every time? Meaning do you start with the same limb every time, or do you use different "limbings" (substitution for the word "stickings")

No.

3. Which limb do you start with on your default setting? (only if you only do them the same way every time) Why? (very curious to your answers here)

Different limbs.

4. If you play your triplets the same way all the time, are your "limbings"...

a. R,L,K
b. L,R,K
c. K,L,R
d. K,R,L
e. Something else (please specify)

All of the above. What isnt default is KLK, or KRK

They're the main questions I'm interested in. Any other tricks, suggestions, ways of thinking about triplets, uses of triplets, comments, ways of practicing them, or anything else related to triplets are welcome.

The easiest thing to practice for me is to go through all the permutations, all over the kit, slowly but to a click. ( An old Dave Weckl tip )

What I started with though is RLKLRK in a seamless pattern and speed it up gradually. It just gets your brain to think pattern not sticking.. but thats just me.


...
 
Like Jeff, I really don't use that trick anymore, though for me it wasn't so conscious - they just started to feel stale from over use. Occasionally I'll find a place where it works and I want to use it, but it's probably been 10 years or so.

But to answer the question:
Righty. Always start with RH as RLK.

I think it makes sense to refer to them colloquially as Bonham triplets just because everyone knows right away what you're talking about, but I associate them more with Steve Gadd for some reason. Probably because I heard him use them with Al DiMeola and it stood out for me because he ended it on 1 on his floor tom with such a nice smack, and I was always lacking the power to end on 1 with the bass drum after having hit the kick the trip before, so that stuck with me.

I still think the idea of generating tons of thunder with some kind of fast rolling kick-tom combo is cool and worth pursuing, so I've substituted with a grooving 16th pattern between the floor and kick (FKFKFKFK ...) and then adding rack tom accents with my left hand flamming with either the floor or kick, depending. Lastly, if you then drop in some authoritative quarters on the hats with your left foot, there will be little question where the pulse is, and has the added benefit of making clear that there's only one kick happening. Bonus points for widening the flams out making them more into hertas.

There are so many rhythmic possibilities with this and feels more natural since it's made to fit the groove, as opposed to something shoehorned into it. Also, because it's more groove-based, you can run that sucker right over the bar line, and when done right, will give everyone within earshot goosebumps! Haha!

Good times!
 
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