5/4 has five quarter-note beats per bar. It is often felt as a group of three followed by a group of two, which gives it a limping, restless swing.
Count all five beats out loud the first few times. The most common mistake is to drop back into four.
| Figure | Count | Kodály syllables |
|---|---|---|
| Five beats | 1 2 3 4 5 | ta ta ta ta ta |
| Felt as 3 + 2 | 1 2 3 1 2 |
Five beats do not divide evenly, so a bar of 5/4 is almost always heard as two unequal parts: 3 + 2 or 2 + 3. Composers often show the grouping with a dotted barline or through the way the notes are beamed. Try feeling these exercises as 3 + 2.
Count "1 2 3 4 5" at first, then switch to "1 2 3, 1 2" with a small accent on each 1. A whole note is one beat too short to fill the bar. A note that lasts the full bar is written as a dotted half tied to a half note.
The best-known example is "Take Five" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, grouped 3 + 2. Others are the "Mission: Impossible" theme, "Mars" from Holst's "The Planets" and the second movement of Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, which sounds like a waltz with a limp.