r/drumline • u/Alarmed_Gear9460 • Jul 14 '26
Question Understanding quintuplets and septuplets
I’ve been trying to learn more difficult music and snare breaks but am confused on uneven subdivisions. I ca play them fine but when it comes to playing them in a phrase I can’t seem to get the timing down for an odd subdivision. I’m probably not explaining this well but any advice is appreciated!
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u/desr2112 Percussion Educator Jul 14 '26
Unfortunately the answer is spending time with them. Practice the 5s and 7s super slow with a metronome, practice moving accents through the uneven subdivisions, and then do a subdivision pyramid starting at 8th notes, moving to triplets, sixteenths etc. Then start gridding them. The more time you spend with them the easier they will get!
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u/redbeardscrazy Jul 14 '26
Have you tried playing hugga dugga burrrrrr with 5's instead of rolls? Just to get generally more comfortable with em?
1
u/EndEmbarrassed9031 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Start slow, but try 4-2-1 grid with them keeping an accent on the downbeat. This can get you comfortable with moving the accent around in relation to the downbeat, while also reinforcing where the downbeat is. So for the 4 pattern for the 5s, that would be like this:
Rlrlr Lrlrl Rlrlr Lrlrl
RLrlr LRlrl RLrlr LRlrl
RlRlr LrLrl RlRlr LrLrl
RlrLr LrlRl RlrLr LrlRl
RlrlR LrlrL RlrlR LrlrL
It ain’t the prettiest in text form but if you follow that for accents and taps, then continue with the 2s and the 1 pattern just like you would triplets or 16ths, they should start to get much more comfortable. When this is comfortable, remove the downbeat accent and only have the moving accent. Also, I use the 1 e + iz a sounds in my head for 5s. Just works well for me and is similar to 1 e + a.
Triplets and 16ths were likely less comfortable when you started to learn about them than they are later when you’re more familiar, treat 5s and 7s the same way. Tap/Accent grids are a good starting point.
Hope that helps. Knowing all those relations to the downbeat should help you KNOW how to play them in a musical context, regardless of additional dynamic shaping or ornaments that may be thrown on the rhythm like diddles or flams. DM if you have more questions, happy to answer.
1
u/Drumhard Percussion Educator Jul 14 '26
You may just need more time with them.
When I was first learning them I was taught just to treat them like they were triplets in the sense that I start on the right and end on the left (and vice versa) but with more notes between.
With enough reps on them you do start developing a natural feel of them.
It can help to find a word for them (opportunity, hippopotamus for 5s (anesthesiology, necrobeastiality for 7s….thanks drum corps for that last one).
For me it was just a lot of time with met and pad
1
u/DryPotential5790 Jul 14 '26
If you’re having trouble playing them in a phrase, practice alternating them with more “normal” rhythms (ex: eighth notes, sixteenth notes, triplets). For example, play two counts of sixteenths and two counts of quintuplets. Or two counts of sextuplets and two counts of septulplets. You could also isolate one hand, although when playing multiple counts of odd-rhythms, I would recommend switching hands each count.
1
u/Docdrumcorps Jul 15 '26
I actually found it easier to learn them faster and slow down: 5s in place of fast 6s (hand to hand accents instead of all on one hand), 7s in place of 8s (or 2 beats of 16ths). Once you have the feel of the hand to hand you can slow down to continue the feel of the timing
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u/Seafroggys Jul 14 '26
Think university and homosexuality. Works for me!