Customer Reviews

Polyrhythms - The Musician's Guide

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The author has the idea of polyrhythms right, and he explains it very well, and gives great audio examples. He also has right the idea of how to thoroughly teach polyrhythmic abilities, and enhance rhythmic dexterity. The book is lacking, however, when it comes to practice exercises. While the instructions say practice these exercises at all tempos, the accompanying CD has them only at one tempo per exercise (which is, surprise, close to the easiest tempo for that particular exercise)... of course, you're expected to do different tempos on your own, but since you're counting two rhythms at once, it is very difficult to objectively hear each of them, to know if you're not "cheating" one to make it fit into the correct rhythmic space provided by the other.

The book provides the musician with some great new ways to think about rhythm. The problem is that the book advances too quickly to some really difficult stuff. If you sit with it for hours, and practice on your own (drumming on a desk, as I have done), you can ascend its steep slope and help your rhythmic abilities. (In the end, I didn't get very far along in the book). This takes a hell of a lot of patience, discipline, and work, and It would've been much easier if there were more exercises, which slowly increased in difficulty, rather than the few exercises which demand a leap in difficulty from one to the next.

This book is a wonderful tool for those who are serious about musicianship. However, unlike most books which spend their lengthy breadth trying to lead you along "12 stupid-simple steps," this book spends its pages with application. You will not get anything from this book if you just want to read about polyrhythms. This book is for those who want specific practice on the subject, and "Polyrhythms: A Musician's Guide" does that very well.

Polyrhythms are a complex subject and this book is listed in Modern Drummer magazine as "by far the best book on the subject." Is it really?

This is NOT one of my favorite books. I think the topic is presented in a "dry" manner and lacks a creative presentation. My Problem is that I don't know much about Polyrhythms to offer an alternative way to present it. I do know what type of styles that I learn from in books and this is not it.

It's not that the topic is hard to understand or extremely complicated. It is challenging but that is something I look for when purchasing a book.

I think I have an issue with the "best book" annotation on the back cover.

So here is my advice: Find a copy of this book before you buy it and look through it. If you can't find it at least click on the review and look at some of the pages. This book is defiantly not for all drummers but I can't say who would benefit and who would not. Normally, I could do that with other books that I have reviewed, but not this one.

The only way to know If this book is right for you is to do some research on the topic of Polyrhythms and click on the book review and look at a few of the pages. I did not do that and I may not have purchased this book if I had.

Voted #6 in Modern Drummer Magazine survey "The 25 Greatest Drumbooks" The original books were in two volumes. Both have now been combined into one volume. The book also includes an excellent and informative recording. This book is not only for drummers and percussionists but was written for all musicians. Musicians Guide to Polyrhythms (orig.title) is, has been, and continues to be the definitive book on this subject

I think that 3 stars is a good review for this book. I give it three stars, but for the opposite reasons Mr. Gindi gave. I found extremely LITTLE explanations in the book. Actually there are minimal written words. Personally, I would like more of a written explanation to better understand what the author is thinking. Instead, the author keeps adding on without explanation, leaving it up to the reader and the CD. If this book didn't come with a CD to hear the examples, it would be a complete waste of money. For me, there are plenty of playing examples in the book. Working with a metronome at different tempos is all I needed. Additionally, the author recommends using scales once the rhythms are better understood. I would recommend this book to anyone who has already mastered basic rhythms meaning everything up to triplets and 16th notes of all sorts, especially since these are the rhythms the book starts off with.

I am an amateur with 40 plus years on the drums and this guide is easy to understand even though I do not play professionally. Helped me immensely!

This Is probably a great product. But where is it. I ordered it more than 2 months ago from Amazon. I wrote to Amazon about my Items not showing up. And even Though they promised 12 hour feedback They never got back to me. My email is. Hrlysgaard@gmail.com Please Write me.