EC triplets and doublings

[Dissonance]

Hello,

A fellow EC player recently asked me how I do those single note triplets at speed so I slowed down and examined what I do and didn’t like what I saw. 
 

1. How do you folks do triplets on the lower right hand F sharp. I tend to do “ring, middle, ring”. However I find that the pinky rest is in the way (I don’t mean to trigger anyone with the mention of this “obsolete” device 😀).  Do you folks that play Irish at speed do “ middle, index, middle “ for that lower F# to avoid entanglement with the pinky rest?
 

2. My brain seems to inexplicably pre-plan whether to use “middle, index, middle” or “index, middle, index” based on what the following note in the tune is and what finger needs to be free to play it.  
Any failure to pre-plan produces a nasty rhythmic disturbance for me. I wonder how many of you pre-plan the order versus play the same order regardless of the following note?

 

Edited October 18, 2020 by Dissonance
Added that I meant single note triplets.

[DickT]

Hi Diss,

I have avoided single note triplets for decades but now have come to the realisation that I just have to master them. For the low F# I use rmr as you do but do not have problems with the rest getting in the way.  I practise alternating fingers at a slow speed but the pattern breaks down as I speed up and I frequently go back to trying to use a single finger which leads to a loss of rhythm. Pre-planning is also essential to maintain phrasing  but it is another thing that goes as the speed rises. As an aside, last year I was introducing a concert pianist to EC and mentioned the need to use alternating fingers; she proceeded to play single finger strokes faster than would ever normally be required.

 

Dick.

[John Wild]

It may depend on where the fingers have come from on their previous note and where they are needed for their next note.

[Dissonance]

DickT,

I think using two fingers instead of becoming insanely fast with one is in large part about the emphasis and maybe not as much about speed. Those Irish triplets are typically forward weighted. While I bet there are people that can pull off Irish triplets with a single finger it is a whole lot more intuitive to use two. 

[Tiposx]

I have a friend who plays (until recently) mainly Irish music  in a ceilidh band and in pub itm sessions to a very high standard. He can play very fast. He avoids single note triplets and substitutes a different note for the middle one, so that he uses two fingers naturally. 

I know this sounds like a daft idea but it works in practice. Nobody seems to notice it in the session.

[Dissonance]

Tiposx,

I too have a friend who uses those two note triplets exclusively. I would say there is a place for those and a place for the others depending on the tune and how the people you are playing with are approaching the tune.