Music, Polyrhythm and Tempo

[td838]

In music, does Polyrhythm always involve more than one tempo?

Thank you

[sydmayne]

Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms. Polyrhythms are hence to be distinguished from irrational rhythms, which can occur within the context of a single part, whereas polyrhythms require at least two rhythms to be played concurrently.

A simple example of a polyrhythm is 3 evenly-spaced notes against 2, with the 3-beat pattern being faster than the 2-beat pattern, so that they both take the same amount of time (see sesquialtera). Other simple polyrhythms are 3:4, 4:3, 5:4, 7:4, etc.

[rojash]

Or to put it another way: No ;-)