POLYRHYTHM- Learn and MASTER 3:4 and 4:3 [MUSIC THEORY - RHYTHM- COUNTING]

I have been so scared to make this video- It's a really hard topic to learn and teach, and there's not much interest in the topic. HOWEVER I feel that polyrhythm is a fantasticly fun and productive concept to practice. In this video, we learn about what polyrhythm is, then learn about resultant and composite rhythms and how they can help us learn to perform a 3:4 polyrhythm.

We go way beyond just "passing the golden butter" in this video to explore the musical aspects of these rhythms and how we can apply them in real world scenarios, with a significant stress on how a polyrhythm can be interpreted two different ways with two different dominant beats.

If you like progressive rock, djent, math metal, indian music, or anything else that is hard to dance to, you'll probably enjoy working with this concept. I wish you the best of luck with this one- it's tough stuff!

If you're curious what a polyrhythm sounds like you can skip to the example at 13:02

A very big thank you to the following Patrons:
Linas Orentas
Marek Pawlowski
John Arnold
Christopher Swanson
Marc Bulandr
Bradley Bower
Alvaro Begue-Aguado
Don Watters
Don Dachenhousen III
Patrick Ryan

Table of Contents:
00:00 Intro
00:22 What Are Polyrhythms?
01:53 Composite Rhythms
04:00 The Dominant Three
07:01 The Dominant Four
10:59 Finger-Style Polyrhythms
13:11 Wrapping Up

[SignalsMusicStudio]

Some additional notes- 12/8 is the king of signatures for creating a 3:4 polyrhythm. Try creating a melody or riff in 12/8 then experiment with the rhythm section switching between either steady 3 or steady 4, or BOTH at the same time. Also, polymeters CREATE polyrhythms if you remove the "in between" notes. Watch my video on polymeter and you'll see the relationship- if you play the FIRST NOTE of every polymetric section, what you have is a polyrhythm!

[AimeeNolte]

This is just one of the best music education videos out there. Huge high fives!!!

[Bigbobtube]

This guy is so good, not only can he talk while playing polyrhythms, when he plays 4/4 guitar over them he burst into flames! Good stuff.

[CaveMonJones]

I am a professional West African drum instructor. That said, I'm thoroughly impressed by the simplistic yet conclusive way you introduced polyrhythms here. You are a phenomenal instructor of music!

[floreacionn]

I was about to live on 4/4 forever and cry over the fact that I can't groove in 3/4 until this video, just saved my life.

[carlotapuig]

By far the best practical explanation of polyrhythms I'ver ever seen. Musicians tend to be pretty bad at explaining things easily. This guy is an exception. I'm sure he's an excellent musician but he's even better as a teacher.

[baymarin]

"What's my purpose?"
"You pass the stinking butter."

[natep]

Instructions unclear; I'm covered in butter now.

[thequiet]

Im a beginner drummer and I’ve been practicing just shy of a year and I’ve been stuck in the 4/4 rut with no idea how to understand 3/4 let alone translate it on the kit. This video helped me understand so now I can take that knowledge and FINALLY start practicing. Thank you so much for the easy to understand explanation :)))

[LuxTheSlav]

The phrases I recommend are:
3:4 GIVE adVICE to MOther
4:3 GIVE MOther SOME adVICE

[squeeze]

You know when you learn something amazing and you exclaim "dude that just blew my mind" this is like, Dude you just took my blown up mind and put everything back together and rewired it so I understand music that i've always been experiencing but now in a totally different and refreshing context

[darkskinwhite]

I like that instead of asking me to join his Patreon, he said: "If you did like this video, you can thank my Patreon supporters for making it possible."

[manuelcrespo]

This guy explains this concept like a boss!!. My piano teacher could never explain me polyrhythms as well as this guy!!!. Thumbs up!!!. Thanks!!!!

[LeviClay]

Dude, this video is legitimately flawless - excellent stuff!

[dspmusik]

Incredibly clear teaching and pacing. This needs to be shown by every music teacher.

[ssneg]

Excellent tutorial! (claps in 4:3) 👏👏👏

[rideub]

I said it before, I'll say it again: He is the best music theory teacher I've ever seen. Easy to understand, to the point, just AWESOME!!!

[F_Karnstein]

That's amazing... I improvised this 3:4 polyrhythm when playing percussion for years and years and never knew what I'm doing or why it sounds so awesome.
Thanks for clearing that up

[PerfectRhythmUK]

I could never get tired of the way this guy explains stuff, his passion and knowledge, and his soothing made for radio/tv voice - awesome channel!

[matthewflores]

This was GREAT! I was practicing this on the plane last week by tapping on the tray in front of me. Fortunately I was flying to Nashville where everyone is a musician. The guy in front of me turned around and said “you practicing 3 against 4?” He was very kind as I wasn’t thinking about him 🤦🏻‍♂️. Anyway I was stumped when I was trying to focus on the 4. Excellent video!