Tool · 1996 · 7 over 4
The 7 over 4 polymeter in Forty Six & 2 by Tool
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 every shared pulse. This is a teaching model, not the recorded drum part.
● Hit · empty cell = rest. Switch a part off and play it yourself.
Practice tempo: 108 BPM
BPM is the shared pulse. Each row counts its own repeating loop.
Note: On the record the band mostly phrases in seven together. This demo pins a 4/4 backbeat underneath so you can hear why a riff in seven feels the way it does.
Tempo: BPM analyzers disagree wildly on this one (from 80 to 216). The 7/8 phrasing confuses them. Most players count it around 108 BPM.
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
Forty Six & 2 rides Justin Chancellor’s bass riff, usually counted in seven. Tool’s signature move is exactly this: odd-length riffs that keep turning around before you expect, while Danny Carey decides bar by bar whether to lock to the riff or push against it.
The demo plays a seven-pulse figure against a straight four-beat backbeat, the cleanest way to hear the seven-versus-four tension. Every twenty-eight pulses the two downbeats meet again, and that arrival is the payoff the groove keeps building toward.
What to listen for
- The riff turning around "one beat early" against a four feel
- The downbeats drifting apart and reuniting every twenty-eight pulses
- On the record: how the drums switch allegiance between the riff and the backbeat
Count the whole cycle
Keep one steady pulse and let each count start again at its own length. After 28 pulses, both counts return to one together.
| Pulse | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | Next 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riff (in 7) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 1 |
| Backbeat (in 4) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
Riff (in 7) repeats 4 times; Backbeat (in 4) repeats 7 times. In the drum exercise, kick marks the first layer’s starts and snare marks the second layer’s starts. These are count markers, not the recording’s drum hits.
Practise this rhythm
Hear the pattern
Choose Drum exercise at half speed. Count seven with the kick and four with the snare. Follow the full twenty-eight-pulse comparison cycle.
Play the missing snare
Mute Snare and supply its marked hits yourself while the kick continues. Keep going until both layers meet on one.
Play the missing kick
Restore Snare, mute Kick and swap roles. Return to Count clicks and maintain both parts yourself.
