I keep discovering new ways to use Rhythm Lab as a practice aid for improvisation. In this new video, I explore various additive rhythms – rhythms that incorporate different groupings of 2 or 3 beats. Some of the examples are based on well-known jazz pieces, particularly those by Dave Brubeck (“Unsquare Dance,” “Take Five”); others are based on classical pieces (third movement of Prokofiev’s Seventh Piano Sonata).
I had a lot of fun making this video. In the previous improv video, I used iReal Pro to provide backing tracks for all of the examples. In this video, I only used a backing track for one example: a 3+3+2 pattern used as a basis for a Montuno RH pattern. The backing track was provided by loops in Garage Band, controlled through AudioBus so that I could easily start or stop the track without having to exit Rhythm Lab.
Here are some more fun videos on the topic of additive rhythms:
Additive Rhythms in 4/4 Time Applied to Jazz
All Around this World – Jay Sand: Additive Rhythms
David Bruce, Composer: The Map of Music