Polyrhythmic Ostinatos - part 2
Polyrhythmic Ostinatos - part 2
Drum Lesson by Alain Rieder
Example 1
Here are 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 and played over 4/4:
Example 4
This example is an application of this concept, to Exercise 4 from my Time Manipulation Drum Book.
Each pattern is played twice, but if you listen to the sound file the hi-hat plays the previous shifting hi-hat pattern, instead of the eighth-notes that are written.
Each pattern is played twice, but if you listen to the sound file the hi-hat plays the previous shifting hi-hat pattern, instead of the eighth-notes that are written.

This video illustrates the concept. Again, this is Exercise 4 from my Time Manipulation Drum Book (page 25), played with Polyrhythmic Ostinato 5 (page 127). In this video example, I played each pattern twice, before moving on to the next, and I have added random ghost notes.

Jing Chi
To hear a fine example of this rhythmic concept, listen to the next track, which is a short excerpt from a Jing Chi song.
I wrote this lesson in 1997, and the CD came out in 2001, but it perfectly illustrates the concepts I developed in this lesson.
CD: Jing Chi (Tone Center 40212) © 2001
Track 03: Tengoku
Drums: Vinnie Colaiuta
Guitar: Robben Ford
Bass: Jimmy Haslip
I wrote this lesson in 1997, and the CD came out in 2001, but it perfectly illustrates the concepts I developed in this lesson.
CD: Jing Chi (Tone Center 40212) © 2001
Track 03: Tengoku
Drums: Vinnie Colaiuta
Guitar: Robben Ford
Bass: Jimmy Haslip
Musical examples are granted for your personal use only.
© 1998 Alain Rieder - all rights reserved
Time Manipulation Drum Book

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Modern Drummer Magazine (USA), 2019