The idea of polyrhythms always conjures up visions of geeks getting out their calculators, trying to figure out the best way to make something NOT groove.

If you want to inject a little poly into your rhythm, here’s a really simple concept.

One problem with playing fast lines is that there’s a tendency to sound too structured. To help break up some monotony, try adding odd groups of notes into the fray.

In a previous post, I used the combination of 4′s and 5′s. This time, let’s use consecutive groups of 5′s. Phrase them so the first note of each group falls on the 1/8th note or 1/4 note.

Another name for this post could have been “How to Sound like Eric Johnson or Jean Luc Ponty” so try to add some personal flavor.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 at 2:22 pm and is filed under Lessons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.