NOTATION 30: Polymeter & Polyrhythm

Imagine two guitars playing at once to the same pulse, but whilst Guitar One is counting 1 2 3 1 2 3 and playing a repeating 6 note riff over it, Guitar Two is counting 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 and playing a repeating 8 note riff instead. Both guitars are playing quavers.

They are playing in different time signatures (or meters) with different bar lengths, but to the same pulse = Polymeter. Their parts will start to overlap as the different bar lengths progress, but their rhythms are the same.

Now imagine both guitars are playing to the same beat, but this time guitar one is playing quavers and counting 1 and 2 and, whilst guitar two is playing triplets and counting 1 and uh 2 and uh.

Guitar one is playing two evenly space notes per beat, whereas Guitar Two is playing three evenly spaced notes over the same beat.

The bar length and time signature is the same but their rhythms within it are different = Polyrhythm. The parts trip over each other in a satisfying way.