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Polyrhythm

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Polyrhythm 

(cross rhythm), in music, the simultaneous use of two or more different rhythmic patterns. In general, “polyrhythm” means the combining of any rhythmic patterns. It was the norm for European polyphonic music, beginning with the 12th-century motet. In this general sense, polyrhythm includes the simplest rhythmic combinations (for example, quarter notes in one voice and eighth notes in the other), as well as compound rhythmic combinations, which are defined as polymetry.

In a specialized sense, polyrhythm is the vertical combination of rhythmic patterns characterized by the absence of the smallest unit of time common to all voices (for example, a combination of duplets and triplets, or triplets and quintuplets). This type of polyrhythm is characteristic of works by Chopin, Scriabin, A. Webern, and A. Berg.

V. N. KHOLOPOVA



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Dancing to traditional Vivaldi, Dvorak, Bach, Shostakovich, Bartok and Mendelssohn, he taps out mind- bending polyrhythms with a dexterity that shows him as a percussionist as well as a dancer.
The American and Latin jazz scene in the South Bronx enabled black Bronxites to mingle socially with whites and Latinos, sometimes as co-creators of new musical genres; oftentimes as fans of the sounds of the African Diaspora - drumming, polyrhythm, call and response styles of jazz - which filled the streets of many Bronx neighborhoods.
At once deeply human and other-worldly, the songs masterfully engage the power of music to create sacred space for spiritual communion, while complex yet subtle polyrhythms weave a spell around the listener.
 
 
 
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