How to Play Polyrhythms on Drums

Almost every band has drums. No matter what type of band, the drums play an essential roll in the music because they provide beat and rhythm to the music. Most drummers in a band will play polyrhythms. This is a technique where the drummer will play various rhythms at the same time.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Start playing the drums. The left hand can play one rhythm on the cymbals or high hats while the right hand can switch from drum to drum. At the same time, the foot will press the pedal to play the bass drum. Use either the left hand playing the cymbals or the foot playing the bass drum to play a steady rhythm to help keep your right hand on the same rhythmic beat pattern.

2. Play polyrhythms during bridges in a song. This is the best time to play them because the lead singer and other instruments can back off and allow the drum set to come forth with some unique polyrhythms.

3. Practice playing polyrhythms. Each drummer has to practice polyrhythms a lot in order to play them nicely. If one does not practice, the polyrhythm will sound sloppy and will appear that the drummer is simply banging on the drum set. Practice slowly and gradually build up speed.

4. Get a good drum teacher if there are problems with polyrhythms. Having a good drum teacher will not only help improve drumming skills, it will also give the drummer someone to guide them and constructively criticize their drum playing. There are many polyrhythms, so by having a teacher one is also able to learn many new polyrhythms and techniques.