Name this polyrhythms please?

[Pibroch]

My 3 yo grand daughter just played along to a minus drums recording of Toto's Africa. Assuming we use 4/4 as the time signature, she hit bongos precisely on every third eighth note.

Would someone be able to tell me what is common name for this polyrhythm please?

 

[dcrigger]

Every hit every 3rd 1/8th note would be playing... dotted 1/4's

The question is - considering the tempo and few of Africa - when you say 4/4... do you mean a faster 4/4 felt in "two" - so really 2/2 (or cut time) or a slow 4/4 (like 84ish bpm).
I would consider Africa to be written in a fast 4/4 written in 2 - so that the riff "dada da da dada da da" is all written as 1/4's and 1/8th's.

If that's where you are placing the beat/rhythm/notation - then her dotted 1/8th polyrhythm would 4 over 3 (or 4:3) - four equally spaced notes in the space of three 1/2 notes (or three beats/foot taps of Africa)

If that makes any sense....

 

[dcrigger]

Does she continue it across multiple bars? If so, that's very cool - and I would venture a bit unusual.

 

[Hop]

Here's a little web gadet to help hear some polyrhythms: https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/polyrhythmBeatGenerator.php

To make a custom polyrhythm, click the 'slider activation' button (second from the left) then adjust any 2 of the 10 sliders (i.e., the 3rd and 8th to hear 3:8).
You can use the links in the "Presets" in the left text field to hear some preconfigured rhythms.

 

[Pibroch]

Every hit every 3rd 1/8th note would be playing... dotted 1/4's

The question is - considering the tempo and few of Africa - when you say 4/4... do you mean a faster 4/4 felt in "two" - so really 2/2 (or cut time) or a slow 4/4 (like 84ish bpm).
I would consider Africa to be written in a fast 4/4 written in 2 - so that the riff "dada da da dada da da" is all written as 1/4's and 1/8th's.

If that's where you are placing the beat/rhythm/notation - then her dotted 1/8th polyrhythm would 4 over 3 (or 4:3) - four equally spaced notes in the space of three 1/2 notes (or three beats/foot taps of Africa)

If that makes any sense....

Thanks.

I meant a slow 4/4 (like 84ish bpm).

She did it across the bar lines (and hits coincided exactly with the "one" every three bars).

Yeah, I thought it was cool too - just by natural feel I'm assuming as she's never been taught to consciously count half beats or whatever. Am also guessing it wasn't just a fluke as it was so consistent.

Her mother is an amateur jazz singer and dad an amateur drum set player. In the womb she's had music played to her constantly every day and the same after birth to this day and she's extremely demanding whenever she craves a music fix!

Another neat thing is when she hears new phrases as she learns to speak English as a second language. She'll take delight in repeating the phrase around 8 times with a slightly different vocal inflexion or rhythm every time.

 

[bigbonzo]

For what it's worth:

Rhythm and Metre: Ostinato rhythms, consisting almost totally of quavers, with constant use of syncopation. The time signature is 2/2 (split common time) throughout.

https://shuttleworthcollege.org ›
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Toto: Africa | Shuttleworth College

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[WesChilton]

Sound like what she was doing is a pretty common 6 over 4 afro-cuban rhythm. Pretty advanced stuff for a 3-year old! She's feelin' it!

 

[cworrick]

3 years old?

Just call it Fred.

She will be happy.