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Polyrhythms, polymeters, and how to use them

Writer's picture: Philip WellerPhilip Weller

You may have heard the words mentioned – but what do they mean and how can you apply them in a musical context?


a guitarist playing and banging their head

Djent is one of metal’s most popular and inventive contemporary styles of guitar playing. Started by Meshuggah and furthered by the likes of Periphery, Tesseract, and beyond, it’s a style that has bred some incredible guitar players – just don’t call it a genre or Misha Mansoor will go full Liam Neeson on you.


Polyrhythms and polymeters are djent’s bread and butter, giving it a hybrid sense of groove and proggy complexity. Understanding how they work and how to use them, though, isn’t always easy.


Luckily, we’re here for a quick fire guide to polyrhythms and polymeters. Over the next few paragraphs, we’ll explain how they work, give examples of them in action, and hopefully inspire you to get writing.  

 

What are polyrhythms and polymeters?


Simply, poly means ‘many’. That’s why polyamory means ‘many lovers’ and a polyglot is someone who speaks many languages.


In a musical sense, that means that two or more rhythms or meters are being played at the same time. The difference between the two is who is playing the rhythms.

 

A polyrhythm example


If one instrument is playing two rhythms at once, then it’s a polyrhythm.


Check out Gojira’s Low Lands which has a 3 over 4 polyrhythm. The snare clearly indicates a 4/4 rhythm and the hi-hat is playing a pattern in three.


In this instance, it takes three bars of 4/4 for the pattern to resolve – or four bars of 3/4. Try listening to the song counting along with just the three and four patterns across different listens and see if you can hear the two rhythms separately.


A way to look at this concept on guitar would be to split the time signatures between bass notes and the melody notes.



 

A polymeter example


Polymeters take the same concept and splits it between instruments. Typically, this is what you hear in djent, with the split happening between the drummer and the stringed instruments.


Much of Meshuggah’s hardened grooves come from drummer Tomas Haake playing 4/4 with one part of his kit – typically a crash cymbal or snare so people can still bob their heads to their music – with the guitars playing odd-time patterns over the top.


There is usually a clear point when the two rhythms lock in together and they both play a one beat at the same time. Sometimes that can come in the form of a turnaround at the end of the pattern.


Check out Tesseract’s track, Lament for an easy to spot loop when a slide down is used as the indicator.



 

A practical example


Let's look at a practical example of a polymeter - 7/8 over 4/4 as played by our wonderful model Browne.


Here, he is repeating a seven note pattern over seven bars of 4/4, which is the amount of time it takes to lock back onto the same one beat together. This can create a really cool push and pull as the two grooves weave around each other. That, fundamentally, is the magic of djent.


Top tip - Personally, I find it easier to count to four and three rather than seven as it can get a bit dizzying when you’re trying to concentrate on what you’re playing too.


So, I’ll count: 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, instead of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.


Check out Monument’s Regenerate to hear this concept used in a song. It will show you a great example of how the feel of the two time grooves interact and how they loop back around after seven bars of 4/4.  

 



 

Groove first, math later


Tesseract’s Acle Kahney likens djent riffs to typewriters in that, once you reach the end of the line, like a typewriter – ping! – you jump right back to the start to repeat the process. This is a really useful analogy for bringing ideas to life.


In this sense, it’s about creating a pattern or a groove that feels right, and not getting bogged down by the numbers. Whatever time signature – or time signatures – that it happens to be in is what you work with. This ensures the groove still feels… well, groovy, rather than writing a riff enslaved to a pre-determined concept likes ‘it must be in 11/4’ which can make sound like it was written by and for machines, not humans.


INSERT GRAPHIC HERE

 

Applying the concept in a musical idea


Meshuggah are masters of polymeters, but they don’t all require a degree in rocket science to grasp.


Let’s look at Spasm, one of their simplest executions of a polymeter. The guitar riff is one note – with some dead notes for funsies – played in an easy-to-follow 7/4 groove. The crash cymbal maintains a steady 4/4 pulse to not alienate non-proggy listeners, while the kick helps accentuate the guitar’s groove.


It’s with this split with the drums that the idea really comes to life. If the drums were solely in 4/4, with a cymbal on every pulse, the kick on one and the snare on three, it would work, but it wouldn’t quite groove as hard as it does.


Having this flexibility with the drums creates a semblance of harmony between the two parts so they aren’t grating against each other constantly. They feel like they are meant to go together, which is extremely important.


So, if you have written a cool riff in 7/4, try to apply this concept. Then try the idea again with a drum groove in seven that matches the riff and see how the groove changes.

 


 

Get djentin’


We hope this fat-free guide to polyrhythms and polymeters is helpful and inspires you to get creative.


If you want some more practical exercises, check out Modern Metal Academy’s lesson on polyrhythms and polymeters here.


Don’t forget to tap into the Modern Metal Academy forums for sharing riff ideas and getting real time, personalized constructive feedback to help sharpen your skills. MMA thrives because of its community, so why not use it to your advantage. Even if you don’t subscribe, there is a free forum full of guitarists willing to help you along on your guitar playing.


And for more hacks, hints and tricks, head over to the Modern Metal Academy blog page.

 

 

 

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