MOST MUSIC IS WRITTEN in 4/4, which means four beats to the bar. Some is written in 3/4, which is ‘waltz time’. But occasionally an inspired composer will write a piece of music with five beats to the bar. It’s not done very often as it’s almost impossible to dance to.
The most famous piece of music in 5/4 is Dave Brubeck’s Take Five, known also for its virtuoso saxophone part. But there are other, notable pieces in 5/4, which don’t announce their quirky time signature so blatantly.
The theme tune to Mission Impossible* by Lalo Shifrin is in 5/4, although most listeners won’t have noticed (maybe because they’re sitting in the cinema and unable to try to dance to it). The time signature gives it a sense of urgency, along with a slight discomfort. This may be the reason Gustav Holst wrote the Mars section of his Planets suite in 5/4.
But perhaps the composer most adept at writing 5/4 songs is, surprisingly, Andrew Lloyd Webber. In his rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar, the song Everything’s All Right is in 5/4 – but it’s unlikely that all but a few listeners are aware the fact. To have the ability to smuggle a 5/4 time signature into a standard, singable song takes real genius.
*Fun fact: The Morse Code for MI, the initials of Mission Impossible, is – – . . (pronounced by morse operators ‘dah dah dit dit’). When you say it out loud, you’re speaking the underlying Mission Impossible theme.
