The swiss army triplet is a more complicated rudiment that makes use of flat flams and double strokes within various forms of triplet. On this page you will learn the rudiment as both eighth and quarter note triplets. The rudiment is shown with both standard and reverse sticking. Make sure you practice these to a metronome, starting slowly and gradually building up tempo. At the very bottom of the page you will find a list of links to some lessons you may find helpful when learning these parts.
Each hand within the rudiment is playing a specific two note movement that when put together creates a complex sounding part. The right hand is the simpler of these movements as it just plays the first two notes of a triplet. This is shown below over a quarter note triplet.
Then the left hand plays on the first and third notes of a triplet. Again, this is shown over quarter note triplets below.
When put together you end up with a unison note on the one of the triplet, the right hand on the two and the left hand on three. So in terms of hands it's 'both right left' which is quite a satisfying movement when you get it going. In the four exercises below I have given the full rudiment as quarter and eighths with both standard and reverse sticking.
Exercise 1
The swiss army triplet as quarter note triplets in standard sticking.
Exercise 2
The swiss army triplet as quarter note triplets in reverse sticking.
Exercise 3
The swiss army triplet as eighth note triplets in standard sticking.
Exercise 4
The swiss army triplet as eighth note triplets in reverse sticking.
TASK
- Using the 2 minute rule, get all exercises up to a tempo of 135bpm.
- Experiment with adding quarter note feet to the eighth note version of the rudiment.
- Orchestrate the rudiment.
