Five Four
11th October, 2008
Podcast - listen now!
Another cracking guest episode from djtc this week. As a remedy to the monotony of 4/4 time, it’s something subtly different…
why 5/4? well, it’s just different. but why? because, essentially, 5/4 has a flexibility that three- or four-time just doesn’t offer - a song can allude to speed or twitchiness, serenity or space in 5/4 just by how each bar is phrased.
5/4 can give a song a sense of propulsion that regular timings just can’t offer: splitting a bar in two and making the second half a beat shorter than the first makes a song feel like its falling over itself to reach the next down beat and, in doing so, quickens the pulse, raises suspense. see the mission impossible theme tune for a perfect demonstration.
Then again, treated differently, 5/4 can serve to slow a piece down: a regular 4/4 bar can be cooled by adding an unexpected fifth beat; when a new bar is hinted at, there’s still one more beat to go, offering thinking space between each phrase and a more laid-back feel. the nick drake record in the mix does this pretty well.
But then sometimes, just sometimes, it simply feels right to have five beats in a bar - no matter how awkward it is to dance to or drum to. sometimes there’s a perfect melody that just fits into five, and that’s that.
Podcast - listen now!
Tracklisting
Lalo Schriffin and his Orchestra - Mission Impossible (Theme)
Stereolab - Percolator
XTC - English
Sufjan Stevens - They Also Mourn Who Do Not Wear Black (For the Homeless in Muskegon)
M. Craft - Silver & Fire
Nick Drake - River Man
Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Drake
PJ Harvey - Water
Radiohead - 15 Step
Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five
Got introduced to Sufjan Stevens for the first time here, thanks for that! =)
Another cool 5/4 track is ‘Jambi’ by TOOL.
Looking forward to your next post, keep up the good work! =D
Jonas from Blography