Playing the 2/3 Polyrhythm on Maracas

Video Transcript

"I'm going to demonstrate for you a maraca technique using a maraca in each hand, the way that they were designed. Now, there's basically three different schools of thought for playing two maracas at the same time. You can play unison parts--everything one hand plays, the other hand plays in unison. Or, you can play alternating parts. Or, you can split it up and actually play two different rhythms at the same time. Now, one of my favorite things to do, if you're using two different rhythms, is to use two different pitched maracas, which most are to some degree. But I'm going to bring that to an extreme. I've got a smaller maraca and a larger maraca. And I'm going to teach you something called a "2/3 Polyrhythm." And it's going to break down just like this. You're going to play three notes on one hand---one, two, three, one, two, three, one two, three--in rapid succession like that. And at the same interval that you're playing three notes on this hand, you're going to play two notes on the other hand. Hence the "3/2 Polyrhythm." One, two, one, two, one, two, one, two. Alright? You put those together at the same time--one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, one, two, one, two, one, two, one--where that whole pattern starts on the one, whether you're counting to three, whether you're counting to two. Hence, your "2/3 Polyrhythm" again. Straight time on one hand, straight time on the other."