A very good way to practise is to play along with audio files. Down here you'll find audio files with basic rhythms. You can play them directly by clicking on the button next to the name, or you can download them and play with your audio player from your local drive. In the near future I will add more rhythms.

ta.tota is the base of all ternary rhythms, whether it´s a simple or a complicated rhythm. It´s very important to train yourself in playing a good and stable ta.tota and to try to recognize it in your favorite music. If you want to find out whether a rhythm is ternary just try to play along ta.tota. In african music you´ll find lots of ternary rhythms. In rock music on the other hand you´ll find them less often.

First djembé plays    ta.tota ta.tota ta.tota ta.tota etcetera
                      d  d g  d  d g  d  d g  d  d g
Second djembé plays   toutoto tátoutoto tátoutoto tátoutoto etcetera
                      g  d g  d g  d g  d g  d g  d g  d g

First djembé plays    ta.tota ta.tota ta.tota ta.tota etcetera
                      d  d g  d  d g  d  d g  d  d g
Second djembé plays   toutoto tátoutoto tátoutoto tátoutoto etcetera
                      g  d g  d g  d g  d g  d g  d g  d g
Third djembé plays    toutatatoutototoutatatoutoto etcetera
                      g  d g d  g d g  d g d  g d

exercise 4 (listen): AC/DC - The Jack

Below a video of AC/DC The Jack, a ternary rhythm. For this example I prefered the high quality version without Bon Scott...

exercise 5 (listen and play): Tinariwen

One of my favorite groups from Mali, Tinariwen, plays a ternary song. You can easily play along ta.tota, tatotota (soko), ta.tatotota, ta.ta.toto or any basic ternary rhythm...