Groups of three over four: accents across the bar line
A three-note figure in eighths, accented on its first note, repeated across bars of four: the accent lands somewhere new every time until the pattern comes back round after three bars, then a bar of 3-3-2 on E major leads home to A minor. Groupings that cross the bar line are all over rock and metal riffs, and playing them steady trains you to keep the beat while your accents pull against it.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with drums playing along, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 110 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 110 bpm
- Starts at
- 66 bpm
- Length
- 4 bars, looped
- Tuning
- E standard
- Time
- 4/4
- Level
- Advanced
- Plays with
- Drums
How to play it
Keep counting the bar in four while the accent moves; the drums stay in four to help.
The figure is three eighths with an accent on the first: the A string, then the A at the 2nd fret of the G string, then the C at the 1st fret of the B string. Played over and over in a bar of eight eighths, the accent falls on 1, then the 'and' of 2, then 4, then the 'and' of 1 in the next bar, and so on. After three bars it's back on 1.
Halfway through the figure moves to F, with F at the 3rd fret of the D string. The last bar is 3-3-2 on E major, E, E and G♯, the rhythm of countless rock riffs, and leads back to A minor.
Count the bar in four the whole time, out loud if needed, and let the accents fall where they fall. The drums stay in four with you.
Mistakes to watch for
- Turning the bar into 3/4 by adding an extra beat or leaving one out.
- Accenting the beat instead of the start of each figure.
- Losing count where the figure crosses the bar line.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 66
- 72
- 77
- 83
- 88
- 94
- 99
- 105
- 110
That's 16 loops and about 3 minutes before you're playing at 110 bpm. If it stops being clean on the way, stop the ramp there and loop that tempo until it is. With a microphone or an audio interface you can record while you play instead: Demiurg checks every loop and steps up only after two clean ones in a row, and back down after a poor one.
Questions
How fast should I play Groups of three over four?
The goal is 110 bpm in eighth notes, which is 3.7 notes a second. Start wherever every note is clean: the player begins at 66 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
Where is this used?
Everywhere riffs push against the beat: the 3-3-2 rhythm of rock and pop, metal riffs in groups of three over four, and the polyrhythms of Latin and African music.
What's a polyrhythm?
Two pulses at once, like three against four or three against two. Here the figure makes a pulse of three eighths while the drums keep a pulse of four quarters.
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