Polyrhythmic Ostinatos - part 1
Example 1
Here's three hi-hat (or ride cymbal) ostinatos (each line is played four times).
Example 2
The same ones, played in a 3-bar sequence.
Example 3
The three-bar ostinato, applied to other bass-drum patterns
The three-bar ostinato can also be viewed as being in 3/4 or 6/4 and played over 4/4:
Example 4
This example is an application of this concept to the first exercise of my drum book Time Manipulation.
Each measure is played twice, but if you listen to the sound file the hi-hat plays the previous shifting accents instead of the unaccented eighth-notes that are written.
© 1990 - Alain Rieder - All musical examples are granted for your personnal use only.
An actual application of this concept can be clearly heard in this John Lennon (& Yoko Ono) CD Double Fantasy
Track 13: Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him
Drummer: Andy Newmark
Yoko Ono sings the song on the album, here's a version sung by John Lennon
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