two hands · one pulse · four ratios
Your left hand keeps a steady pulse — one note, on the beat, never speeding up. Your right hand fits two, three or four notes inside every single one of those beats. That is a ratio, and this is what a ratio sounds like when you play it instead of writing it down.
the ratio
two notes for every one
Your left hand plays one note. Your right hand plays 2 notes in exactly the same amount of time. Written down that is 1 : 2 — and a ratio is nothing more than a comparison of two counts. Left hand 60 notes a minute, right hand 120. Same minute.
one pulse every 1.00 s · one right-hand note every 0.500 s
left hand · the pulse
right hand · 2 per pulse — say “Ta-ka”
watch both hands — low C is the pulse, the notes up top are the ratio
The low C never moves and never speeds up — that is the whole point of a pulse. Every time you change the ratio you are only changing how many notes the right hand squeezes into the same gap. Two for every one. Three for every one. Four for every one. The left hand does not care.
what you are actually doing
| ratio | say it | left hand / min | right hand / min | in words |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 : 1 | Ta | 60 | 60 | one note for every one |
| 1 : 2 | Ta-ka | 60 | 120 | two notes for every one |
| 1 : 3 | Ta-ki-ta | 60 | 180 | three notes for every one |
| 1 : 4 | Ta-ka-di-mi | 60 | 240 | four notes for every one |
Look down the last two columns. The left-hand number never changes; the right-hand number is that same number multiplied by the ratio. That is why 1 : 4 at 60 gives 240 notes a minute without your foot moving any faster. Start at 1 : 2, get it boringly even, then try 1 : 3 — that is the one where the hands only meet on the first of every three, and where the whole idea suddenly clicks.
Hand Ratios live inside the bigger course — take the Guided Path →
or start further back with the basics →