Here’s a fun groove that splits eighth note triplets up between the hi-hat and ride cymbal.

Splitting eighth note triplets across different surfaces has always been one of my favourite things to do because you can create so many interesting patterns. This groove simply splits the triplets between the hi-hat and ride cymbal; the addition of the ride cymbal bell adds more rhythmic interest. Let’s learn the groove.

Get the Groove

Our first stop when learning this groove is to be comfortable splitting the triplets between the hi-hat, ride and snare drum. Here’s the basic pattern:

The left hand is splitting its time between the hi-hat and playing the snare drum on beats 2 & 4. For now the right hand is just playing the body of the ride cymbal. Take time getting comfortable playing this pattern before trying to move on – you want this on auto pilot before trying the next step.

Our next step is to add in the bass drum. You may want to start with the bass drum just on beats 1 and 3 before trying the full pattern shown here.

The tricky part of this pattern is the 2 consecutive bass drums on the “Let” of 2 and beat 3. The first is with the left hand and the second with the right. As always, play this pattern slowly, count out loud and focus on getting the bass drums to coincide accurately with the hands.

Again, practice this groove until it’s on auto pilot before moving on to the final step.

The last thing to add to this groove is the ride bell pattern. We’re going to alternate the right hand between the body of the ride cymbal and the bell. This adds an interesting colour over top of the groove. You may want to practice just the hand pattern again and then add the bass drum back in. Take it slow.

Taking It Further

Spend some time with this groove and change the bass drum pattern to create new grooves; that’s a great way to expand your abilities. What we’re going to do is look at some ways to change up the bell pattern.

Our first variation reverses the right hand pattern from our original groove – now we play the bell first and then the body of the ride cymbal.

The second variation has us play the first three right hands on the body of the ride cymbal and the last three on the bell of the ride cymbal.

The final variation has the right hand hit the bell of the ride cymbal when the right hand coincides with a bass drum.

I hope you’ve enjoyed groove of the week #40. If you’re in Singapore and you’d like a free trial drum lesson, send us a message on the contact us page.