Nothin’ At All
Playing Polyrhythmic Patterns
In this video, I am going to teach you how to introduce playing polyrhythmic patterns with Boomwhackers using the Rhythm Tutor and Whacky Looper Apps.
Polyrhythm in music is simply when more than one rhythm is being played, but where all rhythms are following the same common beat structure. In fact, most music we listen to is polyrhythmic in some way, simply because it is being played by a group or ensemble. For example, in a typical Rock Band the drums are playing something different than the bass, which is different than the guitar, which is different than the vocals. If everyone in the band played the same rhythm pattern all the time, music would become monotonous quite quickly.
The example rhythm we will use for this lesson is a composition of mine called “Nothin’ at All”.
While it is a very simple piece, it was inspired in part by music from West African. Many cultures, particularly in Africa and areas where Africans were forcibly brought during the slave trade, have musical styles that rely entirely on rhythmic cycles being played together, often using drums and other percussion instruments.
“Nothin’ At All” is simply a combination of three rhythms that all last one cycle of the Rhythm Tutor or Whacky Looper. In other words, the piece is just one measure long if counting on the 16th not base, or two measures long if counting on the eighths.
The words used as mnemonics for this piece were inspired by the occasional humdrum feeling we all get when we are bored and just sit and let the minutes pass by. All three patterns reflect this feeling and situation.
We will learn each of the three rhythms individually in the Rhythm Tutor app, and then learn how to combine them in the Whacky Looper. This lesson focusses on “Nothin’ At All”, but the techniques presented here can be used for learning other polyrhythmic patterns.
PENTATONIC SCALE
Before diving into the rhythms, let me say a brief word about the pitches of Boomwhackers we will be using for this piece. The kind of scale in which “Nothin’ At All” is composed is called a Pentatonic scale. Penta means 5 in Greek (think of Pentagon – 5 sides), and tonic comes from the Latin word for sound, hence 5 sounds. While a standard set of Boomwhackers contains 8 tubes, only seven are unique note names, because we have two “C”s. If we remove two notes from the set – here the “F” and “B” – we are left with only 5 distinct pitch names. This is our pentatonic scale. Pentatonic scales are actually considerably more common than 7 note scales throughout the world. Many cultures use pentatonic scales almost exclusively for their music, particularly in East Asia.
What makes this pentatonic scale unique has to do with the harmonic relationship of sound frequencies between the notes that is beyond the scope of this lesson. Suffice it to say, that this arrangement of pitches sounds relatively harmonious regardless of which combination of notes are being played. Pentatonic scales are great for rhythmic compositions because it will always sound like the notes “fit together”.
SETTING UP GROUPS
To play all the parts in “Nothin’ At All” you will need to divide the class into three groups. You can teach all three individual patterns using any pairing of high and low notes, but to play along with the pitches in the Whacky Looper, you will need to follow these Boomwhacker pairings:
Group 1 – C and D
Group 2 – E and HiC
Group 3 – G and A
As always, the lower Boomwhacker should be held with the left hand. Because Group 1 and 3’s instruments are right beside each other on the scale and are very similar in size, it might take a reminder to know which is the lowest one.
These Boomwhacker pairings represent three different sizes of drums that would have been used in certain African ensembles to play low, medium and high sounds. Group 1’s Boomwhacker’s are the largest, and represent the largest, lowest drum, which gives us the bass voice. Group 2’s boomwhackers would represent a small sized drum that provides the support voice to the rhythm, while group 3’s Boomwhackers represent the medium sized drum, often played by the leader of the group as it plays the central voice. The three drums pictured here come from the Ewe people of Ghana, and are known as the Sogo, Kadan, and Kidi, respectively.
Rather than have each group only learn their specific rhythm, it is best for the whole class to learn each of the rhythms well. This way, you can get much more mileage out of these lessons by having groups change instruments and rhythm patterns often. Everyone will have a chance to play each pattern in the piece, which keeps the material fresh.
The last thing to mention before diving in is to NOT try and tackle all of the material in this lesson in one go. You may want to dedicate a short, 5 to 10 minute session for each of the rhythms, then do sessions combining just 2 rhythms at a time in all 3 permutations, and finally a session or two putting all three patterns together. Depending on your class’s age, ability, and experience, this process might take anywhere from a couple of days to a few weeks.
INDIVIDUAL PARTS – Group 1
We will learn INDIVIDUAL PARTS using the Rhythm Tutor, then combine them using the Whacky Looper.
Group 1’s pattern represents the clock ticking empty seconds away.
Say words, Tick Tock, Tick Tick Tock Tock
Make sure when teaching this pattern that students don’t speed up, often referred to in music as rushing. If possible, get them to actually watch the second hand of a clock. As long as the tempo of the piece is set to the default, the low boomwhacker in the pair (usually the C) should hit when the second hand moves (though this can depend on the processing speed of the computer running the app). If they are still struggling with speeding up, try asking them to breathe slowly as they play. It really helps.
INDIVIDUAL PARTS – Group 2
Group 2’s pattern is so easy that it is hard. What I mean is that the pattern is very repetitive and not complex, but there are nonetheless a lot of notes to play. Because of this often tough for students to maintain the focus and stamina required to play this part. Make sure that none of them dismiss this as “the easy part” – it is actually the most challenging of the three.
A common problem when teaching this rhythm is students switching their high and low notes around, playing one note with the high Boomwhacker and two with the low one. One strategy to help with this is to show them that the low note (E) is always played on the strong beat, at the beginning of every division of 4 spaces in the grid, right after the dark lines.
If your students are up for a challenge and are relatively good and making the Boomwhackers bounce to play fast, try this little variation on the rhythm
(I’m lazy, goin’ crazy)
This variation adds a little interest and makes the pattern less repetitive. But it is tricky to play for a long time.
INDIVIDUAL PARTS – Group 3
Group 3’s pattern is the heart of the piece, and the source of the title. Imagine a brief conversation between two people (maybe a parent and a bored child) that goes something like this:
(What are you doing? Nothin’ At All)
The question is asked by the low Boomwhacker, (What are you…)
and answered by the high one (Nothin’ At All)
This interaction creates a kind of melodic motif for the piece. Make sure that the students don’t play the question and answer the same way. While the rhythms are similar, they are not identical. Remind them that the low Boomwhacker asks the question, and the high one gives the response.
TWO PARTS – First Combination
Once the students have learned each of these rhythms pretty well in the Rhythm Tutor, it’s time to move to the Whacky Looper
The first step in combining these three rhythms is to try playing just two of the three patterns together. Divide the class into two groups. If you don’t have enough Boomwhackers for everyone to be playing the specified pitches, designate one half of the class as the Low Part using a pair of notes from the lowest 4 Boomwhackers and the other half as the High Part using a pair from the highest 4 Boomwhackers.
The first combination we will try is Group 1’s “tick tock” rhythm with Group 2’s “I’m Lazy” rhythm. Open the version of the Whacky Looper included in this lesson, and clear the lines for G and A. Then mute the lines for E and HiC.
The low half of the class will be following the C and D. This is the “Tick Tock” rhythm, the lowest part. Start the looper and get just the Low half of the class to play along for a few cycles. If any of the students are having trouble, remind them of the words they can say as they play. As always, adjust the tempo down if the students are struggling.
Stop the looper and mute the C and D lines, then unmute the E and HiC lines. Then have just the high part half of the class practice this rhythm for a few cycles, then stop the looper again. Once more, saying the words as they play can help keep them on the beat.
Finally, unmute the C and D, and mute the E and HiC again. This time, you will get the low half started on their rhythm, and once they have played through the cycle once or twice, unmute the E and HiC to get the high group to join. Depending on how confident the kids are with their parts, it is possible that you can skip this layered entrance and have everyone start at the same time.
If the students manage to play both parts together without speeding up or slowing down, make sure to congratulate them. When learning to make music with other people, regardless of the instrument or vocal line being performed, it is a really big deal to be able to concentrate on your own part while still being aware of how it is fitting with the rest of the group.
Ideally, students should be able to play together for 16 repetitions of the cycle, or about a minute. Build up to this goal. Set the goal first of playing together for 4 cycles, then 8, then 12, and finally 16. Of course, being able to play longer is fantastic.
Once the kids have successfully completed this rhythm pairing, have them switch instruments so that the group that was playing the low part is now playing the high part and vice versa. Repeat the steps as outlined previously to have each half of the class practice their part a few times on its own before combining them.
TWO PARTS – Second combination
Repeat the process outlined in the previous section for the other two rhythm pairings. Again, unless your students are super keen, I recommend doing each pairing of rhythms as its own lesson or session to renew student attention and engagement.
The next pairing to try is the Group 1’s low part (Tick Tock) with Group 3’s main line (What are you doing?). In this instance you would clear out the E and HiC lines in the Whacky Looper, leaving you with just C, D, G and A. You may find that this pairing of parts is easier for the students to play than the previous one, because of the presence of the main line, which creates a kind of recognizable melody.
TWO PARTS – Third combination
The last pairing to try is the Group 2’s High part (I’m Lazy) with Group 3’s main line (What are you doing?). You will need to clear the C and D parts. This one creates a bit of a visual challenge because the main “Nothin At All” part occupies space in the grid between the two notes of the “I’m Lazy” part. This can make the “I’m Lazy” part a bit hard to follow, but hopefully by now the students are relying as much on their ears to hear the relationship between the parts as they are watching the screen.
In fact, at this stage I would even recommend trying to get them to play these rhythms together without the aid of the app, relying just on their own ears and sense of timing. This can be a challenge for certain, but it is how true musicality is developed.
PLAYING THREE PARTS
Once the students can successfully play the three parts configured in pairs, it’s time to put them all together. You may find that they are so familiar with the parts at this point that you can just divide the class into three groups, press the play button and go. But chances are good that at least for the first few attempts that you will need to layer the parts in as outlined here:
Start by muting the E, G, A and Hi C, so that just the “Tick Tock” part can be heard. Get Group one to play along.
Next unmute the E and HiC to bring in the “I’m Lazy” part. Group 2 can join in here.
Finally unmute the G and A of the “Nothin’ at All” part, and have Group 3 join in.
Of course, you can layer in the parts in any order you want. I just find that this arrangement works best.
Again, if your students manage to keep all three parts of this piece in time with the beat, congratulate them. Playing a three-part polyrhythmic cycle is quite an accomplishment.
Make sure to stop the piece after about a minute and change the groups up so that students can try all of the different parts and see how they fit into the piece as a whole.
FURTHER CHALLENGES
Once the students can really feel the groove with this piece, add one of the drum loops. The African djembe ensemble, Cuban Son Montuno, and Brazilian Samba are particularly good choices. Then gradually push the tempo up to see if they can play it faster. The rhythm really cooks if you can get it up to 200 bpm.
As a goal, try to get to the point where the class can play the three parts to this rhythm with only the drum loop accompaniment, muting the main Boomwhacker volume.
If you have access to tone chimes, hand bells, or xylophones, another idea to try is to have a portion of the class repeat the polyrhythm on Boomwhackers while others improvise pentatonic melodies using the same set of pitches on the other instruments.
Ultimately, I hope you attempt to play this piece and other kinds of polyrhythmic music without the aid of the Whacky Looper. As the leader, play a steady pulse on a drum, cowbell or woodblock and have the students play the parts along, using the mnemonic phrases as a guide.
You can follow the same steps outlined in this video to learn other polyrhythmic patterns. For example, the three Patterns in the Rhythm Tutor entitled “I Like Peanut Butter”, “Listen to My Drum” and “Walk The Fat Dog” can be combined to play Pattern #3 in the Whacky Looper. See the Teaching Tips section of the How to use the Whacky Looper lesson for more details.
Once you and your students are really familiar with this process, try creating polyrhythmic patterns of your own to play. Start be composing the individual parts as simple high low patterns in the Rhythm Tutor, then combine these patterns with different pitch combinations in the Whacky Looper to see what sounds best.
Helping to create and teach polyrhythmic music was the fundamental goal of the Whacky Looper App. I hope to add more polyrhythmic combinations based on traditional African Drumming patterns in the future.
Until that point, have fun, and we’ll see you soon.
