Triplets & Sextuplets on the Djembe

Video Transcript

Welcome back. Scott Swearingen, rythmpig.com. Here let’s talk about triplets and sextuplets. So, we showed you how to subdivide one, two and one, two and four which is quarter notes, eight notes and sixteenth notes. You can also subdivide a note into three. It’s called a triplet. So, if I am playing one, two, three, four, if I subdivide one of these into a triplet, I have to go one, two three, one, two three, one, two three, one, two three. I’ll play even slower. One, two three, one, two three, one, two three, one, two three, and count it to myself before I do it. One, two three, one, two three, one, two three, one, two three. That let’s me know I am going to go one, two three, one, two three, one, two three, one, two three. One. Two. Three. Four. One, two three, one, two three, one, two three, one, two three. One, two three, one, two three, one, two three, one, two three. Now when we do that it is going to be a little tricky and here’s why. Because since it is an odd number, you are going to end up going right, left, right. There’s three. And the next three is going to start on your opposite hand. So, it is going to be… It gets a little tricky sometimes because you are changing hands off. One, two three, one, two three, one, two three, one, two three. It helps a lot if you accent it, if you accent that down beat because it shows you where that beat is. So you are going, one, two, three, four. One, two three, one, two three, one, two three, one, two three. One. Two. Three. Four. One, two three, one, two three, one, two three, one, two three. One. Two. Three. Four. One, two three, one, two three, one, two three, one, two three. Now, if I take that three and double it, or, if you will, subdivide it twice as many times, I am going to be playing six times in one note. So if I am going One. Two. Three. Four. I’ve got to get six in there. One, two three, four, five, six, one, two three, four, five, six, one, two three, four, five, six, one, two three, four, five, six. It is going to sound like this. And notice I am off playing a different beat. And accenting that one beat again. When you play triplets and sixes, it is really, really important at first to accent that down beat so you know where you are because you can get lost real quick. Now, that was four. But if you didn’t hear it, you got lost and so it is really important to go one, two three, four, five, six, one, two three, four, five, six, one, two three, four, five, six, one, two three, four, five, six, one, two three, four, five, six, one, two three, four, five, six, one, two three, four, five, six, one, two three, four, five, six.

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