Leonard Bernstein · 1957 · 3 against 2
The 3 against 2 polyrhythm in America (West Side Story) by Leonard Bernstein
Press play to count the meter or try the original drum exercise. Slow the pulse down or speed it up to feel how the pattern works.
Every player fits the same bar: A splits it into 3, B into 2. They meet on beat 1.
Original practice groove. Kick follows the first layer and snare follows the second. Hi-hat keeps the first layer’s beat. This is a teaching model, not the recorded drum part.
● Hit · empty cell = rest. Switch a part off and play it yourself.
Practice tempo: 96 BPM
BPM follows the first layer. Both parts fill the same bar.
Note: Bernstein alternates the two feels bar by bar; the demo plays them simultaneously so you can compare the groupings directly.
Tempo: Marked "Tempo di Huapango": a fast dance feel where the eighth-note stream stays constant while the grouping flips.
Simplified educational demo, not a transcription of the recording.
Hear the real thing
Playing the track pauses the demo automatically (and vice versa) so they don't fight each other.
What's happening rhythmically
America from West Side Story is the most famous hemiola in musical theatre. Bernstein alternates a bar felt in two (6/8, two groups of three quick notes) with a bar felt in three (3/4, three groups of two), over an identical stream of eighth notes.
The demo plays the two feels at the same time rather than in alternation (three against two over one bar) so you can hear exactly what flips between Bernstein’s bars: same notes, different grouping.
What to listen for
- On the record: the snap between "quick-quick-quick, quick-quick-quick" and "slow, slow, slow"
- In the demo: how both layers agree on the bar but disagree on everything inside it
- The 3:2 hemiola hiding in countless genres, from Baroque cadences to reggaeton
Practise this rhythm
- Choose Drum exercise at half speed. Tap three evenly spaced kick hits against two snare hits. This compares both feels simultaneously; the song alternates them.
- Mute Snare and supply its marked hits yourself while the kick continues. Keep going until both layers meet on one.
- Restore Snare, mute Kick and swap roles. Return to Count clicks and maintain both parts yourself.
