Dave Brubeck was among the very first jazz musicians to introduce and popularize the musical concept of polytonality. Simply put, it is playing in two keys simultaneously. Many times Dave has ...

Bitonality and polytonality—two or more keys at once, as in Ives’s setting of Psalm 67—have not left the party either. Sonic choral possibilities are now extremely diverse.

Charles Ives The devices that Ives introduced into his music – atonality, polytonality, dissonance, multiple rhythms, jazz, collage – were way in advance of the Stravinskys, Schoenbergs and Debussys ...

In addition to experimenting with different beats, Brubeck took his multi-layered playing to a new level through the use of polytonality - the technique of playing in two keys at once.