Polyrhythm
Polyrhythm means that different rhythms sound at the same time in a piece, which cannot be traced back to a common bar. The simplest case is three against two: one voice divides the bar into three equal beats, a second into two.
- Meaning
- different rhythms at once
- Simplest case
- 3 against 2
- Meeting point
- all voices coincide only on the one
Two orders on top of each other
In the normal case the bar gives all voices the same order: you count one, two, three, four, and all rhythms can be traced back to it. In polyrhythm this does not hold. Two orders run at the same time, each with its own pulse, but over the same total length. The three lines of notation show the simplest case in 6/8 time: one voice divides the bar into two beats, the other into three.
Two beats per bar
The bar is divided into two beats of equal length, each as long as three eighth notes. That is the normal way of counting a 6/8 bar.
Three beats per bar
The same bar, now divided into three beats of equal length, each a quarter note long. It is as long as the first, only articulated differently.
Both together: how the rhythm sounds
If one hand plays two and the other three beats, four attacks per bar sound: on the one together, then a quarter note later, then two eighth notes in a row, finally a quarter note again. The line of notation shows only the result, not the two voices singly.
The grid
A grid of six eighth notes helps in understanding. The pulse of two hits eighth notes 1 and 4, the pulse of three eighth notes 1, 3 and 5. Together the two coincide only on the one. The third row of the table is the sum: that is how the pattern arises that you see in the third line of notation.
| Eighth notes in the bar | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two beats | ● | ● | ||||
| Three beats | ● | ● | ● | |||
| Together | ● | ● | ● | ● |
The symbol library on the page Notation symbols says of the eighth-note triplet that it brings a “3 against 2” polyrhythm into the otherwise duple bar. That is the same idea, only within a single voice: three notes fill the time of two. In polyrhythm this contrast lies between two voices instead.
Where you hear it
Polyrhythms are everyday in music that comes from West Africa or has been shaped by it, such as jazz, Latin and rock drumming. The simplest example is 3 against 2. The next cases are 4 against 3 and 5 against 4, which are harder to count. If the two articulations do not follow at the same time but one after the other, for instance when a 6/8 bar is briefly articulated like a 3/4 bar, one speaks of a hemiola.
Common mistakes
- Letting the hands align: both tend to follow each other. Let them run independently on purpose.
- Ignoring the grid: if you think only in beats, you lose the common one.
- Equating polyrhythm with syncopation: syncopation shifts the stress within one order, polyrhythm lays two orders on top of each other.
Continue on Maikstrings
Related terms
TripletSyncopationHemiolaMetre changeMetreBar / measureTime signatureQuintupletBeat
Editor: Maik Krohm · reviewed on 3 October 2026
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