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Polyrhythm Metronome
Hear and see any polyrhythm. Two independent voices with their own sounds and colours, plus a cycle map showing exactly where they line up and where they pull against each other.
Any ratio to 9:8 Visual cycle map No signup
Try saying "nice cup of tea"
Stopped
Voice A is the accented pulse. Both voices land together on the first step of every cycle — that meeting point is what you listen for.
Made with Drumloop AI — describe a beat and hear it in seconds.
Generate drum loops with Drumloop AIHow to practise a polyrhythm
- Pick a ratio. Start with 3:2 — every other polyrhythm is easier once that one is automatic.
- Slow the tempo right down. The cycle repeats every few seconds, and you need time to hear where the voices meet.
- Mute one voice and clap it against the other. Then swap. Being able to lead with either side is the actual skill.
- Use the mnemonic under the grid — language rhythm teaches polyrhythms far faster than counting does.
Common polyrhythms
Every polyrhythm has an underlying grid: the lowest number of equal steps that both voices divide evenly. Play that grid slowly and the pattern stops being mysterious — it is just two subsets of the same set of steps.
| Ratio | Cycle length | Say this | Where you hear it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3:2 | 6 sixteenths | "nice cup of tea" | West African bell patterns, Latin clave, Chopin |
| 4:3 | 12 sixteenths | "pass the bread and butter" | Romantic piano, Tool, Meshuggah |
| 5:4 | 20 sixteenths | "here comes the crocodile" | Math rock, modern metal, Steve Reich |
| 7:4 | 28 sixteenths | count 7 over 4 bars of the pulse | Progressive rock and djent |
| 2:3 | 6 sixteenths | the 3:2 grid, felt from the other side | Jazz waltz cross-rhythm |
What a polyrhythm actually is
Take a fixed span of time — one bar, say. Divide it into three equal parts and play a note on each. Now divide the same bar into two equal parts and play a note on each of those. Play both at once and you have a 3:2 polyrhythm. The two voices agree on where the bar starts and disagree about everything in between.
That disagreement is the point. Because neither voice can be heard as a subdivision of the other, the ear cannot settle on a single pulse, and the rhythm acquires a rolling instability that a syncopated single-meter pattern never quite achieves. It is why so much West African drumming, which is built on interlocking cross-rhythms, feels simultaneously relaxed and propulsive.
The practical route in is the common grid. For 3:2 the grid is six: voice A hits steps 0, 2 and 4, voice B hits steps 0 and 3. Once you can play all six steps evenly, dropping the ones you do not need is straightforward. This is what the visual grid above shows — the full cycle, with each voice's hits marked.
Language is the other route, and often the faster one. Rhythmic phrases such as "nice cup of tea" for 3:2 or "pass the bread and butter" for 4:3 encode the pattern in a way your body already understands. Most players who struggle to count a polyrhythm can say one immediately.
Polyrhythm against polymeter
The terms get used interchangeably and they should not be. In a polyrhythm the cycle length is shared and the divisions differ, so the voices realign at the end of every cycle. In a polymeter the pulse is shared and the bar lengths differ — a repeating five-note figure over a four-beat bar, for example — so the pattern drifts and takes several bars to come back round. Both create tension; polyrhythm creates it inside the bar, polymeter across bars. Much of what is described as polyrhythmic in progressive metal is strictly polymetric.
Frequently asked questions
What is a polyrhythm?
Two rhythms with different pulse counts played at the same time, over the same span. In a 3:2 polyrhythm one voice plays three evenly spaced notes while the other plays two, and both start together. The result is a rhythm that cannot be counted in a single meter — you hear two competing pulses rather than one pulse with syncopation.
What is the difference between a polyrhythm and a polymeter?
A polyrhythm fits different numbers of beats into the same span of time, so the voices realign every cycle. A polymeter keeps the beat length identical but gives each voice a different bar length — a 4/4 part against a 7/8 part, for instance — so they drift apart and only realign after many bars. Polyrhythm is about dividing time differently; polymeter is about grouping it differently.
What is a hemiola?
The classical name for a 3:2 relationship, usually where three beats occupy the time of two, or where a passage in triple time is briefly regrouped into duple. It is everywhere in Baroque and Romantic music, and the same relationship underpins a great deal of West African and Latin American rhythm. The 3:2 preset above is a hemiola.
How do I count 3 against 4?
Do not count numbers — use a phrase. "Pass the bread and butter" fits 4 against 3 with the stresses in the right places. The underlying grid is twelve: the four-voice lands on 1, 4, 7 and 10, and the three-voice lands on 1, 5 and 9. Play the twelve-grid slowly first, then drop the grid and keep the two voices.
Which polyrhythm should I learn first?
Three against two, without exception. It has the shortest cycle, it appears in more music than any other, and every more complex ratio becomes easier once your body knows it. Spend real time being able to lead with either hand before moving to 4:3.
Are polyrhythms just for drummers?
No. Pianists meet them constantly in Chopin, Brahms and Debussy, where the right hand plays a different subdivision from the left. Guitarists encounter them in progressive rock and math rock. Producers use them to build tension in electronic music. Any instrument that can sound two lines at once — or any ensemble — can play one.
How do I use polyrhythms in a beat?
The usual approach is to keep the kick and snare on a straightforward grid and let a percussion element run the competing pulse — a shaker in threes over a four-based groove, say. That keeps the track danceable while adding motion. Drumloop AI can generate loops with layered cross-rhythms if you describe what you want.
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