Rhythmic “Scales”: Multiples of 3 over a Changing Number of Beats

Okay, here's the idea: I have a repeated rhythmic/melodic idea (here it’s in 9/8, see bottom left of the screen) and I practice groupings of multiples of 3 (3,6,9,12) over a changing number of beats.

So, when I have 3:5 I’m just playing the three notes in big beat one over five pulses. When I have 6:4 I’m playing the first two big beats over four pulses, etc.

This swims a bit (9:5 especially) but I’m working on developing the feel of playing in 9 over 5 rather than just the straight polyrhythm.

Sitting with this material for a while, singing it using konnakol, and paying attention to my subtle shifts in time helps me develop an embodied “memory” of sorts for what this feels like - making it a part of my vocabulary.