Polymeter vs. Polyrhythm

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  1. The song ‘5/4’ by Gorillaz has guitars in 5/4 and drums in 4/4, which im guessing also makes rhat a polymeter. Cool!

  2. This was actually so helpful in letting me get the guitar tones right, the recording is so clean

  3. Fun fact: if you play a polymeter and accent the ones, you’ll get a very slow polyrhythm.

  4. Another nice example of polymeter is the “Tonight Quintet” from West Side Story. The bass is playing an ascending pattern in 3 while the rest of the orchestra is playing a pattern in 4.

  5. The song “Future Lovers” by Madonna is very interesting for a dance-pop act. Its refrain is sung in 7/4 (till it matches the 28th beat — 7 • 4) but the whole track is in 4/4. This is a blip of polymeter in a pop song.

  6. Toad the Wet Sprocket’s _Pray Your Gods_ uses a great example with a 7 against 8 (7 against 4?) polymeter.

    In the final section a boys’ choir sings “dona nobis pacem” in a polymetric round with some eerily haunting harmonies. Even aside this, it’s an amazing song.

  7. One of my professors told me that the best way to remember 3:4 polyrhythm is by saying the phrase “Pass the god damn butter”

    Try it, u can totally hear it.

  8. ‘Västanberg’ by Wintergatan has a 2/3 polyrhythm in some sections.

  9. I wondered if the intro to Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac was a considered polyrhythm because of the asymmetric feel of the pulse of the treble and bass notes being picked on the guitar.

  10. There’s a really nice poly meter in the second movement of ravels piano concerto

  11. Fun fact these two are actually almost equivalent. Silencing the beats that aren’t 1 gives you a polyrhythm from polymeter

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