Triple Ratamacue
Learn How To Play The Triple Ratamacue Drum Rudiment!
This next free drum lesson on the 40 drum rudiments teaches you how to play the triple ratamacue, a drum rudiment from the drag family of drum rudiments. In the video, Lionel Duperron teaches you how to practice the triple ratamacue on a single surface, and how to use it to come up with your own triple ratamacue based drum beats and drum fills.
The triple ratamacue adds to what was learned on the double ratamacue free drum lesson. You can think of a triple ratamacue as a double ratamacue with an extra drag ruff in front of it. Take a look at the sheet music below to see what we mean by that.
If you’ve taken the time to learn how to play a double ratamacue, you’ll have no problems in mastering the triple ratamacue. The triple ratamacue naturally alternates within itself. Once you can play the triple ratamacue accurately with a metronome, you can start working on the following triple ratamacue drum beats and drum fills.
Exercise #1 is the first drum beat incorporating the triple ratamacue. Counts 1 and 3 have unison strokes between the bass drum and the hi-hat. While on count 1 the grace notes are performed on the hi-hat, on count 3 they are performed on the bow of the ride cymbal. Counts 2 and 4 have the same exact pattern – a single ratamacue. It’s played entirely on the snare drum on count 2, and between the snare drum and the floor tom on count 4.
For learning how to perform exercise #2 accurately, start by playing the triple ratamacue on the hi-hat. Once you have that happening, add the bass drum on all quarter notes. Next, you can move the hi-hat strokes on the “and” of 2 and 4 to the snare drum instead. After that, move the “let” from the 16th note triplet on count 4 to the hi-tom. The last step of this drum beat comes by playing the bass drums on all the 8th notes, instead of only on the quarter notes. Don’t work on speed as of yet. Learn the proper sequence first and at a slower tempo.
Exercise #3 will teach you how to play your first triple ratamacue based drum fill. This is a very interesting fill to play. This pattern incorporates the usual snare drum and tom combinations you’ll find in most drum fills. However, on count 4, there’s a very cool little nuance in the form of a unison stroke between the bass drum and the open hi-hat on the “let” of the 16th note triplet that adds a lot to the overall feel of the drum fill. This little detail is also the most challenging part of this drum fill.
Lionel does not alternate leading hands when going from the triple ratamacue on count 2 to the one on count 3 – everything is played leading with the left hand. So, when it’s time to play the open hi-hat on count 4, you’ll have to cross your right arm over the left arm to hit the hi-hat on time. Practice this drum fill slowly so you can master the needed motions to play it effortlessly and accurately, especially when it comes to being able to close the hi-hat so quickly and in time.
The last exercise on this free drum lesson on the triple ratamacue is a very cool sounding one. For this drum fill, Lionel Duperron used most of the instruments on his drum set. Since there is a lot to memorize here, work on this pattern one count at a time.
Start on count 1. Make sure you memorize that count really well before moving on to the next one. Once you learn how to play what’s notated on count 2, play count 1 and count 2 together. Keep doing this for the remaining counts until you have the complete sequence of strokes under your belt. Once that is happening, add the metronome in and work on lining everything up.
You’ll have to be extra careful when handling the open hi-hat stroke. This is a big challenge since all the strokes prior to that are executed on a closed hi-hat. You may find yourself opening the hi-hat too soon. When working on this exercise with a metronome, make sure you start out slowly. This way, you can work on the needed coordination between the hands and the left foot that will enable you to open and close the hi-hat right on time.
If you’ve followed these lessons in the order that we advised you to, then congratulations, you have learned how to play the last of the 40 drum rudiments. You’re now capable of playing any of the 40 drum rudiments and of applying the 40 drum rudiments to drum beats and drum fills.
Otherwise, check this website’s main page. There, you’ll be able to choose the next rudiment from the 40 drum rudiments for you to work on.
Drag Based Rudiments |
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| Drag Ruff | Single Dragadiddle | Single Ratamacue |
| Single Drag Tap | Dragadiddle #1 | Double Ratamacue |
| Double Drag Tap | Dragadiddle #2 | Triple Ratamacue |
| Lesson 25 | ||