5/4 meter - how to feel and play?

How to play and count comfortable in 5/4 meter?

I will show you two ways, i.e. we will use simple mathematics to play in a more musical way in 5/4 meter.

(1) 5 = 4 + 1, i.e. add one quarter note to the 4/4 meter:

1

2

3

4

&

By adding a single quarter note to 4/4 meter, you'll easily find yourself in 5/4 meter, playing the snare drum and grooves and fills on drum set.

Look at an example of a musical note illustrating the described method - the last quarter note of the measure written in sixteenths symbolizes the added rhythmic value of the measure - one quarter note.

(2) 5= 3 + 2 - the second natural and convenient way is to divide the 5/4 time signature into 3/4 and 2/4:

1

2

3

1

2

So you have two bars in a different time signature, but easy to calculate: 3/4 and 2/4. Here is a musical illustration of such a division of time:

(3) And more crazy way...

And now another effective division of the bar in 5/4 time meter, this time based on sixteenths.

Just group sixteen notes with accents irregularly, i.e. 5 notes per group (accents mark the first note of the group).

We use the mathematical law of alternation of multiplication:

5x4 = 4x5

So you can build 4 groups of 5 elements, as illustrated by the following musical notation:

In the second bar, you build a groove based on the accents that you can later expand as desired.

The 5/4 meter is not that difficult at all, so I wish you pleasant work with this lesson's exercises!

www.pawelostrowski.pl/snaredrum