Jazz · 5/4 swing · 5/4 odd

5/4 jazz vamp (Take Five)

176 bpm Loop: all
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5/4 vamp — the groove of Paul Desmond's "Take Five" (Brubeck Quartet, 1959), the piece that made an odd meter feel like a dance. The bar is 3 + 2: a swung three-beat group ("1 2 3") and a two-beat answer ("4 5"). The piano plays the tonic minor on 1 and the swung "and" of 2 (pushing into 3), then the minor-v (Dm7 over the G pedal — one Gm symbol covers both) on 4 and 5. The bass copies it: root, pushed fifth, two quarters.

The ride plays "1 2-and 3 | 4 5-and", hat on 2 and 5, kick on 1 and 4, a snare on the "and" of 3 to turn the corner. Off-beats are swung (triplet positions) — 5/4 jazz is still swing.

Listen for the 3 + 2 split as two short bars rather than five equal beats. Practice: count "1 2 3 4 5" with accents on 1 and 4 until you stop counting, then play with the drums muted — if the bar feels long you are hearing the 3 as a 4. Compare jazz-waltz-comp for the three-beat half alone.

Sources

  • standard practice; no transcribed source

Keyboard

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Tempo −5 / +5
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