How Steady is Your Tempo? Can you keep a steady tempo for polyrhythms?

Youtube Video

Try 4:3 silent independently at different times in each rhythm 

 This is good fun, harder to do than it seems, latest of my "Go silent briefly" videos. You have to play in the pocket with the rhythm, and keep going through the silences, are you still in the pocket when the sound comes back on again? It should help with steadiness and independence and sensitivity to musical time. 

For my page about playing in the pocket with a metronome, see theVanishing Metronome Click - Burying the Click

Youtube Video

Try 3:2 silent independently at different times in each rhythm 

You might worry that this sort of exercise might make you end up playing like a metronome but I don't think it does that at all. It's like an artist who can draw a perfect circle. If you are able to do that (of course don't have to be able to do that to be an artist, but if you can) then it just shows good brush control, you can still draw expressive wavy curves so I think it is the same with music.

I think what it is doing is encouraging something that you have already, and giving you more confidence and stability, that's all, and I think it can actually help with rhythmic expressivity though of course some musicians have that so much anyway - wonderful sense of rhythm and timing is fine anyway - I'm sure they don't need exercises like this :).

Youtube Video

How Steady are your Polyrhythms? This uses the "Mind Boggling Simple Polyrhythm" based on 3:2 



Because - being able to play with a good sense of rhythm doesn't mean at all that you play like a metornome with a steady tick. Metronomes aren't noted for their wonderful sense of rhythm :)

Playlist of them all:

(These new challenging ones are towards the end of the playlist)