Odd meters: 5/4 and 7/8

Most popular music is in 4/4 or 3/4, but many traditions, from Balkan folk to progressive rock and jazz, use bars of five or seven. These meters feel strange only until you learn the secret: they are made of groups of two and three. Learn the grouping and the bar starts to swing rather than stumble.

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

• Count 5/4 as 3 + 2 and 7/8 as 2 + 2 + 3.
• Strum a steady pattern in 5/4 and in 7/8, accenting the start of each group.
• Play a riff in 7/8 without losing the bar.

A time signature tells you how many beats are in a bar (top number) and what kind of note gets the beat (bottom number). 5/4 has five quarter-note beats. 7/8 has seven eighth notes.

Odd meters feel awkward if you count them as long, flat strings of beats. The trick is that musicians group them into twos and threes:

• 5/4 is usually 3 + 2 (count "1 2 3, 4 5") or 2 + 3.
• 7/8 is often 2 + 2 + 3 (count "1 2, 1 2, 1 2 3"), or 3 + 2 + 2, or 2 + 3 + 2.

The first note of each group gets a slight accent. That accent is what makes the meter feel like a groove instead of a stumble: a 7/8 bar of 2 + 2 + 3 feels like a bar of 4/4 with a short "hiccup" at the end.

The same seven eighths grouped differently is a different groove. Changing 2 + 2 + 3 to 3 + 2 + 2 changes the feel completely, even though the bar length is the same.

Counting 5/4.

1. Set the metronome to 80 BPM. Count "1 2 3 4 5" over and over.
2. Clap loudly on 1 and 4, softly on the others. That is 3 + 2.
3. Now strum Am in eighths, keeping the accents on 1 and 4.

Counting 7/8. Set the metronome to 80 BPM and treat each click as a group's start, except that the last group is three eighths long. Saying "1 2, 1 2, 1 2 3" out loud helps more than anything else.

The riff. Play it at half speed first, saying the counts. When it loops cleanly, try changing only the accents to 3 + 2 + 2 and notice the different feel.

Do these in order. Each one is small. Tick the ones you have practised.

• 1.Count and clap

  4 min · 80 → 100 BPM

  1. 5/4: count "1 2 3 4 5", clapping loudly on 1 and 4 (groups of 3 + 2).
  2. Switch to 2 + 3: clap on 1 and 3.
  3. 7/8: count "1 2 1 2 1 2 3" in eighth notes, clapping on each 1.
  4. Keep each one going for a minute without stopping.

  You have it when

  • You can keep both meters going for a minute without losing count.
  I practised this one

• 2.Strum in five

  4 min · 80 → 100 BPM

  1. Hold Am. Strum eighth notes, five beats per bar: down on the beat, up on the "&".
  2. Accent beat 1 and beat 4.
  3. Change to Em every other bar and keep the accents.

  You have it when

  • The accents fall on 1 and 4 every bar, and the chord change lands on 1.
  I practised this one

• 3.A riff in seven

  4 min · 70 → 100 BPM

  1. Learn the 7/8 riff from the tab, slowly, counting "1 2 1 2 1 2 3".
  2. Loop it four times without stopping.
  3. Then try regrouping it as 3 + 2 + 2 and feel how the riff changes.

  You have it when

  • You can loop the riff four times without adding or dropping an eighth note.
  I practised this one

For 5/4, count quarter notes at 80 to 100 BPM. For 7/8, count eighth notes: set the metronome to the eighth note at 160 to 200 BPM, or think of it as quarter notes at 80 to 100 BPM.

• Counting all the beats as equal. Odd meters make sense through their groups. Accent the first note of each group, at least while learning.
• Adding an extra beat to make it feel like 4/4 or 6/8. Count aloud every time, and record yourself: the extra beat is easy to hear on playback.

Dave Brubeck's Take Five is the best-known jazz piece in 5/4, and much Balkan folk music is in 7/8 and other odd meters. Once you feel 5 and 7 as groups of 2 and 3, try writing a short progression in 5/4.

Short version (10 minutes)

Count and clap 5/4 and 7/8 for one minute each.

Standard version (about 30 minutes)

Do all three exercises, then write a four-bar chord progression in 5/4 and record it.

• Odd meters are groups of twos and threes.
• 5/4 is usually 3 + 2 (or 2 + 3); 7/8 is often 2 + 2 + 3.
• Accent the start of each group.
• Count out loud until the grouping is automatic.

You are ready to move on when you can honestly say:

• I can count and clap 5/4 and 7/8 with the groupings.
• I can strum a steady pattern in 5/4.
• I can play a riff in 7/8 without losing the bar.