Polyrhythms are a concept that most drummers come across later in their drumming journeys. They’re not easy things to play, and you’ll mostly hear them being played in technical music such as progressive metal and jazz.
A polyrhythm is when two conflicting rhythms get played together. Each rhythm is grouped differently, and then they overlap each other in the bar. The bar then repeats, and those rhythms continue to overlap each other to create a unique pattern.
In this guide, we’re going to explain how to learn to play polyrhythms. We’ll also give you a few examples to check out.
Before learning to play any polyrhythm, you need to make sure that you have good coordination on the drums. Having good coordination means that you can seamlessly play all your limbs together without getting confused.
You need to be at a stage where your hands and feet can go on to autopilot mode while you think about what to play with your other limbs that aren’t busy.
If you can’t do this yet, you’re going to struggle with learning polyrhythms. That’s why these are concepts that intermediate and advanced drummers get into, and not beginners.
Now, on to the learning phase!
A basic polyrhythm will have at least two repeating rhythms in it. The first thing you should do is learn those rhythms separately. This will get you accustomed to playing them, and it will build your muscle memory when you play them over and over.
You should become so comfortable with playing them individually that putting them together should seem quite easy. It won’t be at first, but it should seem that way.
If you have more than two rhythms, then you should learn the third and fourth ones as well. As a drummer, you can play up to four different rhythms at the same time, as you can use your hands and feet.
The next step is putting those two rhythms together. The best way to do this is to write them down on a sheet. When you can visualize them like this, you can slowly read the page as you play them.
This will let you see where your hands or feet line up and where they don’t. Play the polyrhythm slowly at first, and then work on playing it on your drum kit.
The rhythm could be between your right hand and left foot, or it could simply be between your two hands.
Once you have the polyrhythm down at a slow tempo, you should work on solidifying it and increasing the tempo gradually.
The best way to do this is by playing it repeatedly at a set tempo and then boosting it by five beats per minute. When you only boost it by five beats, you won’t feel a significant speed increase. After boosting it a few times by five every time, you’ll get to a good speed increase without noticing that you got there.
You’re essentially tricking your body into being able to play the polyrhythm faster.
Another good way of practicing is to improvise around the drums and then try to incorporate the polyrhythm while you’re doing that.
Here are a few YouTube clips to check out that perfectly visualize what different polyrhythms look like when you play them:
The best way to play your own polyrhythms is by playing rhythms around the drums that you’re already comfortable with. Do that with three of your limbs so that one of them remains free.
Once you keep that going, use your free limb to play different groupings. You can start with just playing one stroke per bar. Then, move on to two strokes. When you move on to three strokes, you’ll get a three over four polyrhythm while your other limbs are playing in groups of four.
Keep running through various groupings with your free hand, and you’ll get good at creating your own polyrhythms on the drum set.
You need to break down all the rhythms that you’re hearing. The best way to do this is by writing down different blank sheets of 4/4 time. Lock onto one rhythm that you hear and then write it down.
Do the same thing with the other rhythm that you hear. Once you’ve done that, write those two rhythms down on the same sheet. You can then visualize how they mix together to create one overlapping polyrhythm.
You can then work it out by slowly playing what you wrote down.
Yes, most polyrhythms are very difficult to learn. We wouldn’t recommend beginner drummers getting into the world of polyrhythms, as they aren’t a very important aspect of drumming when you first start out.
You should learn to play polyrhythms if you want to challenge yourself or if you want to play intricate styles of music like progressive rock and metal.
You need to have excellent coordination skills behind the drum kit to be able to play polyrhythms.
The easiest polyrhythm to play is a 2 over 4 one. You just need to play two notes repeating with one hand and then play four notes repeating with the other. It doesn’t really sound like a polyrhythm, but it is one by definition.
The easiest one to play that sounds like a tricky polyrhythm is the 3 over 2 polyrhythm. This is when you play two notes with the one hand and groups of three with the other.
If you want to see how far polyrhythms can be taken on the drums, some amazing drummers to check out are Matt Garstka, Thomas Lang, and Gavin Harrison. They all play with bands that heavily utilize these in their music.
Something else to mention is that it’s referred to as a polyrhythm when it sticks to one repeating bar. When clashing rhythms go over a bar line, it’s then referred to as a polymeter. Just a bit of trivia for you!
Drum Teacher
Brett Clur has a Drum Performance Diploma from Trinity College London has been playing drums for over 20 years. He is passionate about advanced concepts and uses his years of experience to teach his students about them. While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos.
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