Swiss Army Triplet
A flam followed by two more notes in a triplet — flam, right, left. Fast and lopsided by design.
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Swiss Army Triplet
A flam, then a double on the flam hand, then the other hand — three notes in a triplet with a flam on the front.
L R R L Flam rudiments Audio at any tempo
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Generate drum loops with Drumloop AIHow to practise the swiss army triplet
- Set the tempo slow — 60 BPM or below to start. Every stroke should be clearly audible on its own.
- Play it for a full minute without stopping, listening for whether both hands sound identical.
- Raise the tempo five BPM at a time. If the evenness goes, drop back to the last clean tempo.
- Once it is solid, move the accents around the kit to turn it into a fill.
How to play the Swiss army triplet
The Swiss army triplet is a flam followed by two more strokes filling out a triplet: the grace note leads into an accented right, then a second right, then a left. Written out it is lR-R-L. It comes from Swiss rudimental drumming, a tradition with a distinct vocabulary from the American rudiments, and it entered the standard list relatively late.
Its value is speed. Compare it with the flam accent, which plays the same triplet with alternating hands — lR-L-R. The Swiss version replaces the middle alternation with a double on the same hand, which is faster to execute because the hand is already moving. At high tempos the Swiss army triplet is noticeably easier to sustain than its alternating equivalent.
It is also inherently lopsided, and that is the point. Because each group ends with the opposite hand, repeating it alternates the lead, and the accent pattern produces a rolling, driving figure rather than an even one. Drummers use it for fast triplet fills and for building intensity in a way that a plain single-stroke triplet cannot. Practise it slowly first — the double in the middle is where evenness fails.
The sticking, note by note
| # | Hand | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Left | Grace note — very quiet |
| 2 | Right | Accent — loudest stroke |
| 3 | Right | Tap — normal volume |
| 4 | Left | Tap — normal volume |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a Swiss army triplet and a flam accent?
Both are flammed triplets, but the sticking differs. A flam accent alternates: flam-right, left, right. A Swiss army triplet doubles the flam hand: flam-right, right, left. The Swiss version is faster to play at high tempos because the hand is already in motion for the second note.
Where does the name come from?
Swiss rudimental drumming — a basel tradition with its own vocabulary distinct from the American rudiment list. Several Swiss patterns were absorbed into the modern forty rudiments, this being the best known.
What tempo should I practise the swiss army triplet at?
Start at whatever tempo lets you play every stroke evenly — for most people that is 60–80 BPM. Speed comes from repetition at a clean tempo, not from pushing past your control. Use the speed trainer on the metronome to climb in small, automatic increments.
Can I practise this over a real groove?
Yes, and it helps a great deal — playing into silence hides timing problems that a groove exposes immediately. Drumloop AI generates original, royalty-free drum loops at any tempo, and the free loop library is browsable by tempo.
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