“Take Five”: keep the fifth beat in the bar
“Take Five” is in 5/4. Keep five even quarter-note clicks in each bar and make the next one land only after beat five, not after beat four.
Paul Desmond wrote “Take Five” for the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Its 5/4 meter gives you one extra quarter-note beat compared with a four-beat bar. This lesson isolates that bar length; it does not copy the recorded drum part, saxophone line, or bass figure.
The count
One bar has five equal quarter-note clicks. The colored first click is the bar start. Say: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · repeat.
Quarter-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
- Open More options (the three-dot menu), choose “Write a Pattern…”, type 5, and tap “Create Pattern.” AnyBeat makes five pulses with an accent on pulse 1.
- From More options, open “View Rhythm Chart.” Set “Pulse value” to quarter notes (♩), so one grid pulse is one quarter-note beat.
- Play the loop slowly and count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 over the five clicks. Start the next bar only after five.
Practise it in stages
Phase 1
Find beat five
Say every number over the click. Make beat five as steady as the first four. If you restart on four, slow the loop and try again.
Move on when: You can count five bars without starting any bar early.
Phase 2
Play the bar, not the numbers
Tap one note on every click while saying only “one” at the accent. Keep the five-beat loop going after you stop counting aloud.
Move on when: You still know where beat one is after several quiet bars.
Phase 3
Leave space
Play your own short phrase on beats 1 and 4, then leave beat 5 empty while the click continues. This is a practice phrase, not a transcription of “Take Five.”
Move on when: The empty fifth beat has its full length and the next phrase starts with the accent.
Phase 4
Return to the record
Listen to the quartet’s recording and count groups of five along with it. When the count slips, return to your plain loop, then listen again.
Move on when: You can follow several recorded bars without turning the fifth beat into a new first beat.
What this exercise leaves out
A five-click loop teaches the length of the bar. It cannot teach the quartet’s feel, accents, drum part, or phrasing on its own. Use the recording for those details.
Listen: Listen to “Take Five”.
Sources: Brubeck site on the Time Out album and Take Five in 5/4; Brubeck composition page crediting Paul Desmond.
Build the count. Then play it.
Start slowly, save the loop, and return to it when the group changes stop surprising you.
