An easy question for many people out there, I'm sure: what is the time signature in this song? And could you recommend other popular songs with a similar rhythm/time signature? Thanks MeFi!
Sounds like 5/4 to me, but I haven't read/played music since college. posted by mudpuppie at 5:53 PM on December 17, 2008
5/4
Take Five by Dave Brubeck is the most well known song in this time signature. posted by umbú at 5:53 PM on December 17, 2008
I guess 5/4 but it's a short snipet. Check out Take 5 - Dave Brubeck. posted by distrakted at 5:54 PM on December 17, 2008
Oh, and Brubeck's Take 5 is similar. The linked version is a little faster than the recorded version. posted by mudpuppie at 5:54 PM on December 17, 2008
I seem to recall a similar question about this, but can't find it - ah well. Anyway, I got pretty interested in Take 5 and unusual time signatures, too - Wikipedia has a list of songs in 5/4 and others. posted by HopperFan at 6:03 PM on December 17, 2008
Take Five by Dave Brubeck is the most well known song in this time signature.
Careful about declaring it "the most well known" -- the theme to Mission Impossible is also pretty famous. If you choose a jazzy version (like the Swingle Singers), there's your "same rhythm and time signature."
BTW, the way to figure out the time signature, at least in this case, would be to try counting along with the music and see when you need to start over. You'll notice that with this song, you can steadily count 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 ... (And if you try to count 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4, you'll get thrown off.) posted by Jaltcoh at 6:17 PM on December 17, 2008
Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova — When Your Mind's Made Up posted by querty at 9:34 PM on December 17, 2008
Duly chastened. I'll amend my declaration to say that Take Five is the most well known song in 5/4 that calls attention to its 5/4-ness in its title, at least. posted by umbú at 1:34 AM on December 18, 2008
I'll drop in a mention of the other well-known piece of music in an odd time signature: Solsbury Hill, by Peter Gabriel (mostly in 7/4). The Dave Brubeck Album which Take 5 is on is called Time Out has other tunes in odd time signatures. IIRC, Blue Rondo al a Turk is in 9/8 and Three To Get Ready is in a mixture of 3/4 and 4/4. posted by primer_dimer at 3:04 AM on December 18, 2008
More good 5/4 songs:
"Turn the World Around" by Harry Belafonte
"Living in the Past" by Jethro Tull posted by Daily Alice at 3:25 AM on December 18, 2008
Ah, SimCity 3000 music. That brings back memories!
Oh, and nthing the 5/4 call. This is pretty much an ideal example of 5/4 jazz, actually.
Check out Dave Brubeck's Unsquare Dance for an example of 7/4 (grouped as 2 + 2 + 3) and, as primer_diner mentioned, Blue Rondo à la Turk for mixed time signatures (mostly but not entirely in 9/8, which here is grouped sometimes as 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 and sometimes as 3 + 3 + 3). posted by musicinmybrain at 4:07 AM on December 18, 2008
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posted by mudpuppie at 5:53 PM on December 17, 2008