Udda underdelningar och polyrytmer : för ett melodiskt trumspel

Sammanfattning

As long as there has been rhythm, there have been polyrhythms. This thesis is about exploring methods of learning new rhythmic tools and ways to incorporate them into a musical, jazz quartet setting. It asks how polyrhythms can be used as a composing tool, whether they can support musical improvisation, and whether it is possible to use polyrhythms and odd subdivisions in music preformed in tempo rubato. This work examines a method of learning polyrhythms introduced by Mulle Holmqvist, and also looks back into the history of snare drumming, in eighteenth-century Norway, where the odd subdivisions were highly present in their playing technique. The philosophical question of when a musical idea is appropriate to use is also dealt with. The result of this work was a concert, held at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm on the 3rd of March 2026. The concert consisted of seven compositions, all written by the author for that occasion.