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Displaced Accents and Polyrhythms

reg Howenuary 14, 2010ne of the most important aspects of improvisation, at least for me, is the ability to steadily deliver a stream of

6th notes (four notes per beat) containing interesting and somewhat unpredictable lines within the context ofid- to high-tempo music scenarios. Playing 16th notes at a typical mid-tempo speed such as 120 bpm is not

ecessarily a difficult task for many guitarists, however to do so in a manner that doesnt rely on the use ofverly predictable sequences or pre-rehearsed licks can often prove to be a bit more challenging.

ne of the methods Ive found to be very helpful in assisting with this quest is displacing the accents in these

ts of fours, resulting in a particular kind of polyrhythm. The various official definitions of the word usuallyclude language that goes something like, the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms. Ifis concept were new to me, that definition would likely be of little value, so before we try to make use of this

oncept lets first try to understand it.

or our purposes, a polyrhythm will be defined as an odd-numbered sequence or grouping of notes used in theontext of a time signature for which they were not originally intended. In this case, all odd groupings will be6th notes (four notes per beat).

or example, Exercise 1 illustrates a very simple sequence in G major that descends three notes at a time from

ch consecutive lower degree of the scale, implying a triplet (three notes per beat) feel. The natural tendency iskeep counting to three as we play it in order to ensure that the design of the sequence remains consistent with

e correlating numbers.

owever, Exercise 2 shows how that same exact sequence could be played in a 16th note (four note per beat)shion. As you can see, nothing actually changes other than our perception of how the sequence is heard within

e context of the rhythm. In this case were using a three-note sequence while counting to four, which meansat from a four-note-per-beat perspective, we no longer have a series of identical sequences. In fact we wouldow get three different sequences containing four notes each. This polyrhythm would generally be referred to asree-into-four.

nce the dominant characteristic of a polyrhythm is that it guarantees the rhythmic displacement of sequencednd/or accented notes, the use of polyrhythmic ideas within passages can be very helpful in bringing about more

eative and less predictable sounding licks and lines. The highlighted sections of the following examplesustrate the actual sequence being used, while the dotted lines illustrate the 16thnote context in which theyre

eing applied.

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reg Howe

reg Howe has enjoyed a successful recording career since bursting onto the scene in 1988, and his talents haveeen sought after by some of the biggest names in the music entertainment industry, such as Michael Jackson,

stin Timberlake, and Enrique Iglesias. For example, Exercise 1 illustrates a very simple sequence in G majorat descends three notes at a time from each consecutive lower degree of the scale, implying a triplet (three

otes per beat) feel.