Guitarists - getting better at triplets?

[Damian B]

I'm a fledgling guitarist (mostly out of necessity since I'm trying to write my own material), and right now my triplets are really fucking weak. I've heard that you should use your whole arm, not just your wrist... but yeah.. I don't know, it's not working for me.

Any tips?

Danke!

 

[Brandon E.]

I've heard that you should use your whole arm, not just your wrist...!

Whoever told you that doesn't know what they are talking about...then again there's no real wrong in technique but I don't know...I've ALWAYS heard that you shouldn't use you're whole arm. My picking is only wrist and forearm

 

[Wolfeman]

I developed that skill over time. Practice. And practice some more. Really that's the only way.

 

[Dylan S]

Try to stay as relaxed as possible and use your wrist much more than your whole arm.

Learn songs off 'Slaughter of the Soul' by At the Gates and you should get better relatively quickly.

 

[slashvanyoung]

Are you talking about fast galloping triplets of the same note (for rhythm) - a la Slayer - or about triplets as in three (different) notes in succession per beat, as you would use it for lead-playing?

Edit: To practise the first: play Slayer songs like 'Raining Blood'
To practise the second: play 3-notes per string scales with a metronome.

 

[JGolden]

I know it sounds stupid/obvious, but I got a lot better at triplets when I would just count them out in my head like trip-a-let while playing. And definitely use just your wrist, especially if you are talking about chugging rhythms.

 

[cloy26]

I have triplets, but I need to get quads. lol

 

[ATLA]

dont squeez your pick to hard, breath and focus. start slow with a metronome completely relaxed and build your speed up slowly. your results will start showing the more you practice!

 

[GarethSE]

If you're talking Raining Blood-esque triplets, use your wrist and stay relaxed. Treat practicing triplets like practicing sweeping. Practice to a click, start slow and work upwards in speed and get it as fast as you can while you can still keep going for a long time, nice and tight, then push a little beyond it and practice that until you can do it solidly, and so on. Next time you pick up your guitar start slow again, but a little higher than you started last time, and push a little higher, and so on.

I'm personally aiming to be able to play triplet gallops as fast as the mid-section in Origin - Portal. Check that track on youtube and listen to how fast they're playing those little galloping triplet runs. If you can ever get to that speed and play comfortably, you're sorted. Haha.

 

[ATLA]

If you're talking Raining Blood-esque triplets, use your wrist and stay relaxed. Treat practicing triplets like practicing sweeping. Practice to a click, start slow and work upwards in speed and get it as fast as you can while you can still keep going for a long time, nice and tight, then push a little beyond it and practice that until you can do it solidly, and so on. Next time you pick up your guitar start slow again, but a little higher than you started last time, and push a little higher, and so on.

I'm personally aiming to be able to play triplet gallops as fast as the mid-section in Origin - Portal. Check that track on youtube and listen to how fast they're playing those little galloping triplet runs. If you can ever get to that speed and play comfortably, you're sorted. Haha.

dude my friend toured with origin, he said paul ryan has many fucked up picking techniques that he switches throughout the songs. Alot of the techniques look really noobish at first, akward hand positioning. It works for him though. check out some live vids and pay attention to his hand.

 

[GarethSE]

Can't say I'm at all surprised

 

[Torniojaws]

Speaking of Slayer, Jeff Hanneman is the master of awkward hand positioning when picking

 

[greyskull]

If you're talking Raining Blood-esque triplets, use your wrist and stay relaxed. Treat practicing triplets like practicing sweeping. Practice to a click, start slow and work upwards in speed and get it as fast as you can while you can still keep going for a long time, nice and tight, then push a little beyond it and practice that until you can do it solidly, and so on. Next time you pick up your guitar start slow again, but a little higher than you started last time, and push a little higher, and so on.

I'm personally aiming to be able to play triplet gallops as fast as the mid-section in Origin - Portal. Check that track on youtube and listen to how fast they're playing those little galloping triplet runs. If you can ever get to that speed and play comfortably, you're sorted. Haha.

yes

 

[mick thompson]

for me anyway its just something you learn, spend around a week or two on a slow set metronome and hit your triplets making sure to accent correctly at a slow speed. 2 weeks later bring up your speed and you'll be flying

for myself its come to a stage where it just comes natural. example in my head i cound i want 2 hits, 3 hits 1 hit, 3 hits 2hits etc and you just naturally do it.

thats what works for me

 

[ParsonsMatt]

Are you talking about fast galloping triplets of the same note (for rhythm) - a la Slayer - or about triplets as in three (different) notes in succession per beat, as you would use it for lead-playing?

Edit: To practise the first: play Slayer songs like 'Raining Blood'
To practise the second: play 3-notes per string scales with a metronome.

Keep in mind that the first is NOT a triplet, but a gallop. Triplet is a specific musical term that refers to playing three evenly spaced notes in a single beat.

 

[drew_drummer]

Learn the songs 'Schism' and 'Vicarious' by Tool. Esp. the end of Vicarious, coz it's a triplet based riff that you can play over and over.

 

[Harry Hughes]

Learn the songs 'Schism' and 'Vicarious' by Tool. Esp. the end of Vicarious, coz it's a triplet based riff that you can play over and over.

Truth right here

 

[GarethSE]

What, that little hammer on progression right at the end of vicarious? Yep. Troo dat.

 

[Skinny Viking]

Whoever told you that doesn't know what they are talking about...

Exactly!

Triplets (or galloping), if your technique is good, should be almost all wrist. The speed and attack should all come from the wrist and if you are planning on playing very fast triplets for an extended period of time (ala Iced Earth) your stamina is based out of your forearm but you should still feel almost no burn there if you technique is good.

I would suggest just setting up a drum loop that compliments a good triplet pattern and start slow. Do 2 minutes at a comfortable speed, then straight downpicking for 1 minute at same speed. After that, kick the tempo up a few steps and go for another two minutes. You'd be surprised how long 2 minutes can feel when you're working up your chops. You should be going fast enough at this point that you start to feel a burn in your forearm after about a minute. Fight through it best you can until the end of the two minutes and then switch back to downpicking for one minute again. Then cool off period ... lower the tempo a little bit BELOW the original speed and do the triplets for 3 minutes and then downpick for one minute. Do this everyday ... you will be competing with Jon Schaffer within a few weeks, promise

 

[harmonic_minor_shred]

ParsonsMatt already mentioned it, but notes played like this:
-000-000- are not triplets. Each is two sixteenth notes and an eighth note. You can call it a gallop or whatever, but not triplets. Triplets are when three notes are played per beat, with EVEN spacing.

And yes, it's the best tip given, use a metronome to practice them! Try to practice them on different strings too, not just the open low E. I think this will train your wrist to be more flexible with the motion, because doing a gallop on the low E feels different to doing it on the high E. So I dunno, maybe you could be working on your alternate picking in general while you're at it. Most of the movement should come from your wrist, and your whole arm should be relaxed.