Five beats in the bar – getting weird now
Five beats in the bar is not an obvious way to organise music – you’re unlikely to drum it out on your knee without making a deliberate effort. It’s possible you’ve never consciously heard a piece of music in 5/4 time (although think Take Five by Dave Brubeck, River Man by Nick Drake, 15 Step by Radiohead, 5/4 by Gorillaz, or Animals by Muse).
Here’s a simple interpretation of 5/4. The kick drum is hitting the 1st, 4th and 5th beats:
The danger with 5/4 and other less usual time signatures is that they can just sound like you’re trying to be clever. Ideally, the beat will just feel natural for the music.
Here’s an example from my own collection:
Instruments on Habanero:
Drums: Studio Drummer from Native Instruments
Bass: VB-Royal from ujam
Horns: Session Horns Pro from Native Instruments
Guitar: VS String Studio from AAS
Organ: Hybrid Keys from Native Instruments
The following is no more than a quick sketch to test out the viability of a 5/4 track with more of a rock or maybe even a dance feel, although you’ll have trouble dancing to it.
Instruments on Five More:
Bass: VB-Rowdy from ujam
Drums: VD-Phat from ujam
Voice: Forgotten Voices – Terrie from 8Dio
Electric Guitar: VG-Iron from ujam
Here’s another example called Pentacordial, this time using a harpsichord. Although this has a bit of a Baroque feel, you would never have found Bach using 5/4 time!