Fast triplets

[Phil Starr]

I've come across a few songs recently where I need to play fast triplets. All These Things That I've Done: Killers, The Final Countdown, Jean Genie Etc. I play finger style and fast triplets don't seem to sit easily with a two finger style. How do people work around this. I've started to play with a pick but it's still feeling clumsy I'll persevere because it'll extend what I can do but in the meantime there have to be other ways of getting round this for a finger player.

Edited November 26, 2017 by Phil Starr

[Dood]

18 minutes ago, Phil Starr said:

I've come across a few songs recently where I need to play fast triplets. All These Things That I've Done: Killers, The Final Countdown, Jean Genie Etc. I play finger style and fast triplets don't seem to sit easily with a two finger style. How do people work around this. I've started to play with a pick but it's still feeling clumsy I'll persevere because it'll extend what I can do but in the meantime there have to be other ways of getting round this for a finger player.

Interestingly, arguably the king of 'triplets', Steve Harris (though often actually a 16th note pattern) doesn't use three fingers. He 'gallops' with his index and 2nd fingers. He also plays very lightly with the bass turned up loud. This enables him to use a light touch and thus play quickly. Index and second is also fine and as you've mentioned, a pick finds it's way in to my playing when the tempo is very high and I want that sharp attacking sound to boot.

 

Start slow as always and build up to it. Don't lock your fingers or hand up as you'll fatigue quickly.

Edited November 26, 2017 by dood

[Osiris]

I use 3 fingers to play galloping lines, the index, middle and ring fingers. It takes a wile to get the ring finger playing well with the others but as with anything, keep working on it and you'll to grips with it. A good tune to practice this that has a slow-ish galloping bass line is Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds. 

Incidentally, my band also plays All These Things That I've Done by The Killers but I've never noticed the bass galloping, or is that just your own twist on the bass line? 

[Phil Starr]

Thanks Dan, I'm currently experimenting with three fingers but of course they aren't all the same length, so keeping it even is the problem. God obviously didn't play bass or he'd have arranged hands differently I've also caught myself 'double fingering' by flicking the string on the return stroke with my middle finger, that feels like cheating though. The advantage of the double flick is that my fingers return to where they would normally be for the rest of the pattern. Just off to google Steve Harris

 

[Phil Starr]

9 minutes ago, Osiris said:

I use 3 fingers to play galloping lines, the index, middle and ring fingers. It takes a wile to get the ring finger playing well with the others but as with anything, keep working on it and you'll to grips with it. A good tune to practice this that has a slow-ish galloping bass line is Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds. 

Incidentally, my band also plays All These Things That I've Done by The Killers but I've never noticed the bass galloping, or is that just your own twist on the bass line? 

In the Killers song it's just a couple of quick triplets (Octave Fifth) before you change down to the B it's in the drum pattern and it isn't observed every time so you can get away with just playing two beats which Marl Stoermer (just looked that up) does on the original recording s often as not. Yeah, practice will solve it but I'm interested to see all the options before getting into bad habits

[skidder652003]

Hi Phil, I just usually use the one finger "Geddy" approach for any super fast triplet work, the killers is pretty sedate pace wise, Im sure you'll get the hang of it soon enough!

 

Edited November 26, 2017 by skidder652003

[DJpullchord]

It seems everyone has their own style. Makes it interesting.

if it’s fast like a gallop 16s and 8th then it’s three fingers.

if it’s average tempo triplets then imimimimi 

[Osiris]

1 hour ago, Phil Starr said:

In the Killers song it's just a couple of quick triplets (Octave Fifth) before you change down to the B it's in the drum pattern and it isn't observed every time so you can get away with just playing two beats which Marl Stoermer (just looked that up) does on the original recording s often as not. Yeah, practice will solve it but I'm interested to see all the options before getting into bad habits

I hadn't even noticed those, just goes to show what I know 

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, skidder652003 said:

Hi Phil, I just usually use the one finger "Geddy" approach for any super fast triplet work, the killers is pretty sedate pace wise, Im sure you'll get the hang of it soon enough!

 

Are Geddy Lee and Ozzy Osbourne related? 

[skidder652003]

ha ha its getting that way!

[Phil Starr]

Thanks everyone, never thought I'd be playing classic rock but it's throwing up some interesting challenges, which I suppose is why it's good to keep an open mind. Lots to think about too. Basschat comes up trumps again and within a couple of hours.

[dmccombe7]

I think Trevor Bolder only used 2 fingers on Jean Genie. Obviously others have pointed out Geddy uses his fingers on both up and down stroke like a pick

I only use 2 fingers for galloping styles and altho i can cope easily enough with the occasional song i don't think i could do it all night like Steve Harris.

[JBP]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

I think Trevor Bolder only used 2 fingers on Jean Genie. Obviously others have pointed out Geddy uses his fingers on both up and down stroke like a pick

I only use 2 fingers for galloping styles and altho i can cope easily enough with the occasional song i don't think i could do it all night like Steve Harris.

Many moons ago the band i was in played a Maiden medaly, I had to play the Trooper followed by Run To the Hills, it was always two fingers for the Trooper and three for Run to the Hills, or risk some serious RSI

[martthebass]

Another one here who only uses the 2 finger technique when playing 'galloping' triplets.  On occasion I've used 3 for those slightly 'messier' Entwistle moments.  As others have said - start slowly and work your way up.  I practiced Duran Duran's Planet Earth to build up stamina - playing it as triplets; urban legend has it that John Taylor needed to play with a plectrum when he was laying down the recording as he couldn't hit the tempo......not the case now though.

Edited November 27, 2017 by martthebass

[Japhet]

17 hours ago, Osiris said:

I use 3 fingers to play galloping lines, the index, middle and ring fingers. It takes a wile to get the ring finger playing well with the others but as with anything, keep working on it and you'll to grips with it. A good tune to practice this that has a slow-ish galloping bass line is Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds. 

Incidentally, my band also plays All These Things That I've Done by The Killers but I've never noticed the bass galloping, or is that just your own twist on the bass line? 

On the rare occasions I've played stuff like this I used 3 fingers (Index, Middle and Ring) but I always found it easier to play in reverse order (Ring, Middle Index) which ironed out a timing issue with the ring finger.

[Gottastopbuyinggear]

I play some triplet stuff, including the Jean Genie intro, with two fingers.  Took a little while to get it fluid, but with the usual start-slow-and-build-up approach it wasn't too difficult.  I'd suggest practicing by continuously playing up and down a scale (or any pattern of notes) in triplet groups, especially over the transitions between different strings.  Also, if you're going for true alternate i-m-i-m-i-m picking, try playing both even and odd numbers of notes (in triplet groups) on each string so you get used to transitioning between strings on both the index and middle fingers.  Alternatively for transitioning down the strings (G to D, for example) you might find raking is helpful.

One other thing that I found is that playing higher up the fretboard (if it's an option given the song) makes life easier, although that might just be a personal thing.  I've been trying to learn Hit Me With Your Rhythym Stick, starting out by playing the main intro bit which is down on the first to fourth frets.  When I started to learn the verse, which is played higher up, I found for some reason that it was a lot easier.  I'm not up to full speed yet, but I'm getting there with practice.  My biggest progress on that was when Basschat was upgraded and so out of action for most of the weekend, which just goes to show I usually spend too much time on the forum and not enough time practicing!

[Monkey Steve]

I've mentioned this on another thread a week or so ago, but I had an odd problem with triplets in that if i used three fingers my forearm would seize up after not very long, trying to play The Trooper for a covers band.  especially under the solo. Some days i could do it, some days i couldn't so i ended up using a pick

It's come up again as a suggested cover for a new band so I thought I'd try to crack it properly, and the solution has been to play it with all four fingers, with ring and little finger hitting the string close enough together that it sounds like one hit.  there must be something in my fecked up tendons that causes a problem with three fingers and is fine doing it with four.

I appreciate that this may just be me...

[Chris2112]

The bassline to 'all these things that I've done' doesn't really have any tricky or complex parts in it but it is a banger to play, just a great tune. If you're struggling to play it with your fingers, then make sure you know the notes and slow the tricky parts right down, even if you have to practice out of time to get the plucking pattern exactly right. You can then speed it up using a click track (but do not become a slave to the beat, correct your mistakes and go out of time if you need to to make sure you have the notes and the plucking pattern just right). 

I would also recommend playing closer to the bridge with a lighter touch, where the added tension at the string will help you to quickly detach after plucking. Provided your amp is loud enough, you should practically be able to glide your fingers over the strings with a minute and very light plucking action. This is the key to fast, accurate right hand work. 

 

Ultimately, it's a case of building some endurance and dexterity to play the part, which will soon be within your grasp.