How to Play Triplets on a Guitar

Learning to play triplets on the guitar just takes practice.

Playing triplets on a guitar is no different than playing triplets on any other instrument. A musician must know how to count a triplet in order to play one properly. Once the rhythmic understanding is obtained it becomes much easier to play triplets on the guitar. A triplet is simply a musical device used to divide the beat into three smaller and equal subdivisions of the beat.

Step 1

Start the metronome at a tempo that is comfortable for you to play sixteenth notes. This means that for every click on the metronome you should be able to pluck or strum four sixteenth notes. We are choosing sixteenth notes since they are slightly faster than triplets. So, if you can play triplets, you can play sixteenth notes.

Step 2

Play three notes for every click of the metronome. Practice this until you can play each note evenly across the beat. These are quarter note triplets in music and they will allow you to play more advanced rhythmic music.

Step 3

Play six notes for every click of the metronome. Again, you will want to practice this until it is comfortable. These are sixteenth note triplets.

Step 4

Play three note equally spaced over two beats. These are quarter note triplets. You can subdivide these by thinking about three eighth note triplets for each beat. Then just pluck every other eighth note triplet to get a quarter note triplet.