Sting’s “Seven Days”: keep offbeats steady in five
Keep five quarter-note beats under your foot and place a hand tap halfway between each pair. Counting “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and” gives the offbeats a clear place inside 5/4.
Sting described writing “Seven Days” in 5/4 with a reggae-influenced beat. This exercise takes the combination of five-beat time and offbeat placement as its starting point. It does not transcribe Vinnie Colaiuta’s drum part.
The count
Ten eighth-note cells: beat one accented, the other numbered beats soft, and each “and” a normal click. Say: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 &.
Eighth-note pulses
Tap a block to change its accent. The full pattern repeats when it reaches the end.
Stopped
The lesson pattern is loaded. Press play, change the tempo, or tap a block to change its accent. Reset brings back the lesson setup.
Set it up in AnyBeat
- Use Write a Pattern to enter 2-2-2-2-2, then disable any second rhythm left from an earlier exercise. Set Pulse value to eighth notes and tempo to 60 BPM.
- Keep cell 1 accented. Change cells 3, 5, 7 and 9 to Soft. Leave cells 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 as normal beats. The demo already has these sounds set.
- Count the odd cells as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and the even cells as “and.” Five quarter notes make the bar even though the screen contains ten cells.
Practise it in stages
Phase 1
Give the foot one job
Tap your foot on the numbered beats. Say “and” between taps, listening to the normal clicks between the softer numbered beats.
Move on when: Your foot stays on the numbers through several bars.
Phase 2
Put the hand in the spaces
Keep the foot going and clap only the five “ands.” If you drift onto the numbers, lower the tempo and speak both parts again.
Move on when: The last offbeat still leaves half a beat before the next one.
Phase 3
Remove the floor under the count
Mute cells 3, 5, 7 and 9. Keep the opening accent and the offbeats. Supply the missing numbered beats with your foot.
Move on when: The quiet beats do not make your foot follow the offbeat clicks.
Phase 4
Listen for the lightness
Return to the song. Follow five in your foot while listening to how the drums and accompaniment move around that count. Bring one short phrase back to the slow loop.
Move on when: You can keep five without accenting every number heavily.
What this exercise leaves out
This is an original coordination exercise. Its evenly spaced offbeats are preparation for listening and playing, not a claim that every instrument in the recording strikes these exact cells.
Listen: Listen to “Seven Days”.
Sources: Sting on writing Seven Days in 5/4 with a reggae beat.
Build the count. Then play it.
Start slowly, save the loop, and return to it when the group changes stop surprising you.
