Hey i was just wondering on really fast triplet picking parts should I be going
D=downstroke U=upstroke
DUD DUD DUD DUD
Or should i be going
DUD UDU DUD UDU
Any exercises that could improve my speed on this type of picking?

I think I play DUD UDU DUD etc.
Start slow and speed up. Push yourself slowly.

That, and pay attention to what your arms are telling you. Beginners have a huge tendency to tense their arms when playing fast triplets, resulting in all kinds of unneccesary pains.

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fingerings with DDD DDD then DUD DUD then DUD UDU. simple huh?

revolution is my name is a very nice song to practise triplets btw

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I know someone who uses only upstrokes...the dude plays like crazy bitch...

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if youre talking about a synchronized triplet type thing... like every downbeat youd play a triplet then id definitely use the DUD DUD technique. that way you can really pound the first down stoke with more arm then quickly fling your wrist to get out the rest of that triplet. my hand/wrist kind of bobs up and down with the beat while my wrist flicks out the rest of the triplets... its easy and its much more accurate and consistant with timing and accenting the downbeat.

I do the triplet thing using the DUD DUD technique when doing thrashy gallopy riffs and i use alternate picking to play qiuck continous triplets

I use DUD UDU etc in songs like Bed Of Razors (byt Children Of Bodom)
Songs like Powerslave (Iron Maiden) in the main riff i use DUD DUD though I dont think it can be considered as a triplet

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Yeah play whatever's comfortable... A good tip for getting the technique is to learn it with excercises of triplets on a fretted string, i.e. "e-111". With fretting it, you'll have more control over the note, so it should make working on your picking hand progress better

I guess triplets depend on the speed your doing them but i usually sortof let my wrist do the work.

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gallops aren't triplets though are they? for straight triplets on one string, alternating is the best, imo. if it's on different strings and you're comfortable with economy picking, go the economy route. for gallops i use DUD DUD, but they're not triplets.

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Yeah, the "gallop" rhythm is just 8ths/16ths/etc with a missing note at a fixed interval:

Gallop



Normal 16ths



The notes that are missing when a gallop pattern is played are in red.

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mctriple, gallops ARE triplets just like johnmansley explained very nicely.

No they are NOT triplets

Triplet breaks note to 3 equal parts while gallop breaks the note to 3 parts when the last note is twice longer then the previous

Gallop: DUD DUD DUD etc

______ , 3 ,, 3 ,, 3 ,, 3 ,
Triplet: DUDUDUDUDUDU etc

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In terms of three notes grouped together, then yes they are triplets of a sort. However, triplets are not equivalent to the gallop rhythm - they are more like "da da-da" rather than "da da da". I used to mix up the gallop and triplet rhythms until it was explained to me.

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Just to confirm, a gallop is two 16th notes followed by one 8th note, while a triplet is three '8th' notes in the space of two.

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i usually see gallops as an 8th note followed by two 16th notes repeated over and over (or vice versa) instead of 3 16ths and a rest. same thing really, as when you're palm muting it, that 8th note could be considered a 16th note with a 16th note rest after it, as the palm mute silences it. but either way, they're just a pattern containing 3 notes.. not 3 notes divided into 1 (or 2, etc depending) beat evenly.

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Because people seem confused about this, maybe it would be best to be more strict about the triplet definition, where gallops are definitively NOT triplets in any way. triplet means where you'd have 2 notes covering a certain amount of time, you add a 3rd and divide the same time evenly among those 3 instead of just 2.

for example, in common time (4 beats per measure, quarter note gets a full beat):
triplet half notes = 3 half notes over 4 beats
triplet quarter notes = 3 quarter notes over 2 beats
triplet 8th notes = 3 8th notes over 1 beat
triplet 16th notes = 3 16th notes over 1/2 a beat
etc

galloping has absolutely nothing to do with that. it's simply a pattern of 3 notes repeating, but there is no beat division going on.

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How cool would it be if i went:

DUU DUD DUD DUU UUU DDU UUDUDDUUUDUDUDUDUUDDUDUDUUDUDDUUDUUUUUUDUDDD


then i could go

DUIDUUDUDUDUUDDUDDDDDDDDDUUUUUDUDUUDUDUDU

then for the chorus i would throw in a little:

UDUUUUUUUUUUUUUDUDUUUDUDDDDDDDDDUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

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What the fucking damn hell is screwed up with you mate? what did you drink yesterday?

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hahaha sorry, i just got a bit wound up again....

your avatar kicks ass by the way, thats some scary shit

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So for songs such as the main riff in I'm Charming by The Black Dahlia Murder, you recommend the DUD DUD DUD DUD way of picking it?

i don't know what that song sounds like. if it's a gallop, then yes DUD DUD DUD. if they're triplets then keep alternate picking.. DUDUDUDU

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