BookatlasPiano Rabbit Hole: Improvisation Theory & Practice
6140 / 18210 · Workshop 43 — “Blue Rondo à la Turk”: 9/8 as 2+2+2+3, Additive Rhythm, Switching Between Odd Meter and Swing, and Keeping Form During Metric Changes← prev⊞ allnext →

43.87The deeper principle: additive rhythm

In symmetrical meter, we often divide:

4/4 → 2+2

6/8 → 3+3.

In additive rhythm, we build the bar from unequal modules:

2+2+3

3+2+2

2+2+2+3

etc.

This is a very useful way to approach Balkan, Turkish, Greek, progressive-rock, contemporary-classical, and many other rhythmic languages.