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Meshuggah does this a lot, where they will have say a 5 note sequence in 4/4. It will look like this if each note is given a number:

1234|5123|4512|3451|2345|1..

Richard
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Jason M Gray
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    So, is the *accent* on **beat** 1 of each bar, or is it on **note** 1? Big difference. – Tim Jul 03 '21 at 07:38

2 Answers2

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If you want a hyper-fancy academic term, this falls under the umbrella of what Harald Krebs calls "metrical dissonance."

Specifically, this is what is called a "grouping dissonance," because there are different "groups" of different metrical levels: one is a 4-level (the 4/4 meter, however implicit or explicit) and the other is a 5-level. Krebs would thus call this a G 5/4 dissonance, meaning "a grouping dissonance with two levels occurring simultaneously: one a 5-level, the other a 4-level."

If you're curious, the other type of dissonance is a "displacement dissonance." This is where two metrical levels of the same cardinality (like two 4-levels) are not aligned. Imagine, for instance, that one 4-level begins on count 1, but the other 4-level begins on the "and" of count 2.

(And if you're curious, there are other aspects to his theory, like subliminal dissonances, direct vs. indirect dissonances, etc. But without knowing more specifics of the piece, I can't address whether the terms apply here.)

Richard
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  • Krebs is new to me. Is there a publication that gives an overview of his ideas? – Aaron Jul 02 '21 at 21:38
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    @Aaron His book is titled *Fantasy Pieces*, but I'm sure you can find a review of it on JSTOR that explains the main points. – Richard Jul 02 '21 at 21:39
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This is an example of 5:4 polyrhythm. The melodic phrase creates a dynamic accent every five beats, and the primary pulse has a metric accent every four beats. The composite of the two accent patterns gives the impression of 5 against four.

Three views of 5/4 against 4/4 as a 5:4 polyrhythm

Aaron
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  • Only polyrhythm if someone else is doing the normal meter against it, surely. – Laurence Jul 02 '21 at 20:30
  • @LaurencePayne OP implies that the melody is 5/4 against a 4/4 accompaniment. – Aaron Jul 02 '21 at 20:31
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    By the way, what Meshuggah does is polyrhythms, but the mere fact of repeating the phrase at different parts of the measure is not necessarily a polyrhythm (e.g. what if only a single instrument is playing?) – user1079505 Jul 02 '21 at 20:52
  • @user1079505 If only a single instrument is playing, then the OP question doesn't exist — it's just 5/4 (or 4/4). – Aaron Jul 02 '21 at 20:53
  • You don't need a second instrument to define 4/4 meter, and to align a phrase at different parts of the measure. – user1079505 Jul 02 '21 at 21:15
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    @user1079505 If you consistently align every five beats, you're playing in 5/4. Without a second impulse to contradict that, any sense of 4/4 will be lost. – Aaron Jul 02 '21 at 21:17
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    No, sense of 4/4 won't be lost if you emphasize the metric accents. – user1079505 Jul 02 '21 at 21:19
  • @user1079505 Then you loose the sense of both the phrase and the meter, because the metric accents and dynamic accents will interfere with each other. – Aaron Jul 02 '21 at 21:20
  • Let us [continue this discussion in chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/127126/discussion-between-user1079505-and-aaron). – user1079505 Jul 02 '21 at 21:22