Triple Stroke Roll
R R R L L L R R R L L L
Practice tempo
What it teaches
Three even strokes per hand instead of the Double Stroke Roll's two — the added third stroke means each hand has to sustain a controlled bounce (or wristed triplet) one note longer without the rebound trailing off or speeding up, a genuinely different endurance and control challenge than either the double stroke roll or the fully open buzz of the Multiple Bounce Roll.
The common mistake
The third stroke of each triplet rushes ahead or comes out noticeably quieter than the first two, because most players' double-stroke muscle memory naturally wants to stop after two; the correction is drilling the triple in isolation, counting '1-2-3' per hand out loud until the third note matches the first two in timing and volume.
Tempo progression
Start at 64 BPM with each hand playing three distinct wristed strokes; once all three notes sound identical in volume and spacing, raise by 6-8 BPM. Past roughly 120 BPM most players let the triplet blur into a light bounce rather than three fully separate strokes — that transition is expected, not a fault.
Where it shows up
Also known as the 'French roll' — used in French and Swiss-influenced rudimental repertoire and drum corps books as a denser alternative to the double stroke roll where an arrangement calls for a thicker roll texture without going fully open into a buzz.