Stop 6 of 6
Odd meters and polyrhythm
5/4, 7/8, groupings and rhythmic layers.
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Stop 6 of 6
5/4, 7/8, groupings and rhythmic layers.
Almost all the music you have played so far walks on equal beats: in twos, threes or fours. In this stop the ground becomes uneven. such as 5/4 or 7/8 mix groups of two and three and produce an elegant limp, typical of progressive rock, metal, jazz and many traditional musics of the Balkans, Turkey or India. And layers two different pulses at once. Here the technique is mental: counting without getting lost.
Listen to this pattern. The low note marks the start of each group; the high notes fill in the rest. Do you notice the last group lasting a little longer?
That's seven eighth notes per bar, grouped 2 + 2 + 3. If you count "one-two, one-two, one-two-three", the pattern clicks into place immediately. This is how it's written:
And this is how it looks with note values that reflect the groups: two quarter notes and a dotted quarter.
Every odd meter is built the same way: by of two and three subdivisions. The order of the groups completely changes the feel:
| Meter | Common groupings | Beats you feel |
|---|---|---|
| 5/8 or 5/4 | 3 + 2 · 2 + 3 | 2 (long-short or short-long) |
| 7/8 | 2 + 2 + 3 · 3 + 2 + 2 · 2 + 3 + 2 | 3 |
| 9/8 | 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 · 3 + 3 + 3 | 4 uneven or 3 even |
| 11/8 | 3 + 3 + 3 + 2 · 2 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 2 | 4 or 5 |
Look at 9/8: grouped 3 + 3 + 3 it is an ordinary compound meter with three equal beats, like an extended 6/8. Grouped 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 it becomes an odd meter, typical of Balkan and Turkish music, where such "limping" rhythms are called aksak. Hear the difference:
Counting to seven or nine at speed is exhausting. These methods work better:
Now on the guitar. First, an original riff in 5/4 grouped 3 + 2 (in quarter notes): three beats and then two. The power chords provide the accents; the rest are notes on the 6th string (the m in the tab).
And a riff in 7/8 grouped 2 + 2 + 3. Each group starts with an accented power chord: E5, G5, A5. The second bar regroups as 3 + 2 + 2: listen to how the limp changes.
Odd meters can be accompanied with chords too. The secret is the same: accent the start of each group. Listen to an Em chord strummed in 7/8 grouped 2 + 2 + 3, then the same idea as 3 + 2 + 2:
And what's the difference between 7/8 and 7/4? In theory, only which note value is counted: eighths or quarters. In practice, 7/8 is usually fast and felt in groups (here, three uneven beats), while 7/4 is usually slower and felt as seven beats, often as a bar of 4/4 followed by one of 3/4. Something similar happens with 11/8: fast, it feels like four or five groups; slow, like one very long bar. When you read music, always ask yourself how many beats you feel, not just how many notes there are.
A polyrhythm layers two different divisions of the same span of time. The most common is 3 against 2: in the time one layer plays two hits, the other plays three, and both coincide at the start.
The trick for playing it is the lowest common multiple: split the span into 6 cells. The 3-layer hits cells 1, 3 and 5; the 2-layer hits 1 and 4. Count "1 2 3 4 5 6" and play only on the bold ones: together, 3-layer, 2-layer, 3-layer. This is the resulting rhythm:
On the guitar, the bass plays the 2-layer (quarter notes) and the melody the 3-layer (quarter-note triplets):
Next comes 4 against 3: 12 cells. The 4-layer hits cells 1, 4, 7 and 10; the 3-layer hits 1, 5 and 9. In a bar of 3/4 that's a bass in quarter notes and a melody in dotted eighths:
In a polyrhythm, two layers divide the same bar differently and coincide at every downbeat. In a polymeter, by contrast, two parts use bars of different lengths (say, a 7-eighth riff over drums in 4/4) and drift against each other until they line up again after several bars. Progressive metal uses this second device a lot.
The is a 3:2 polyrhythm stretched out in time: six eighth notes grouped sometimes as 3 + 3 (6/8, two long beats) and sometimes as 2 + 2 + 2 (3/4, three short beats). Hear the same span change its skin:
It is an ancient device: Baroque music uses it to put the brakes on just before a , and it lies at the heart of many Latin American musics and of flamenco. There are famous examples in musical theatre too, such as "America" from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, which alternates the two groupings.
Set the metronome to eighth notes, seven beats per bar. Count "1-2, 1-2, 1-2-3" and clap on every "1". Then switch to five beats and count "1-2-3, 1-2".
Goal: Count out loud eight straight bars of 7/8 (2 + 2 + 3) and eight of 5/8 (3 + 2) without losing the start of any bar.
Play the 5/4 riff, then the 7/8 one. Exaggerate the power-chord accents and mute the in-between notes well. When it works, make up your own 7/8 riff with the grouping 2 + 3 + 2.
Goal: Play the 7/8 riff four times in a row with the accents in place and without adding an eighth note.
No guitar: left hand in quarter notes (the 2-layer) and right hand in triplets (the 3-layer), on your thighs. Count "1 2 3 4 5 6" and tap according to the grid. When it's automatic, swap hands. Then play the 3-against-2 guitar example and, if you feel up to it, the 4-against-3 one.
Goal: Keep 3:2 going for one straight minute with your hands on your thighs, then play the guitar example.
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