Triplet three beat comping

This idea follows on from the previous post about using a simple three-beat comping figure. In that post, we used space to create the three-beat repeating pattern, in this idea we use rhythmic variation to achieve a similar effect.

As you can see, this pattern uses two triplet partials followed by an eighth note to create our three-beat comping pattern. This works really nicely at medium-up tempos. Again it takes three bars to loop around.

Once you are comfortable with the placement of the pattern in the time, you can find ways to drop and out of it - musically! Figure B shows the pattern embedded in a four-bar phrase.

As always, experiment with ways to voice this around the kit. A1 presents one idea: playing the eighth note on the bass drum. Others include:

1. Play the triplets on the toms and the eighth note on the snare. And the reverse.
2. Split the triplets between the snare and bass drum - very Elvin Jones.

Notice that if you begin the pattern from each of the three bars at A, you have three different phrases that sound and resolve in different ways. You can develop a lot of creative and musical ideas out of these patterns to add to your jazz drumming vocabulary.

Just remember that filling up this much space can make the music feel pretty dense, but when used well it can create some great momentum, tension and release.

Have fun. Make music.