96 BPM

Why five feels like it’s leaning.

Four splits in half twice. Five doesn’t split at all — so you group it. Three and two, or two and three. Both are below, and both are playable.

Count it

A metal strip under cyan stage light, cut into five plates; the first three sit slightly closer together than the last two. The same strip under the same cyan light, re-cut so the first two plates sit closer together than the last three.

Three, then two

The accent lands on one and on four. It walks, then it catches up.

Two, then three

The accent lands on one and on three. It catches up, then it walks.

Both at once

3+2
2+3

Where you’ve heard it

Two well-known pieces in five: Take Five ↗ and the Mission: Impossible theme ↗. We name them because they are the reason most people have heard 5/4 at all. Nothing on this site plays or reproduces either one — every pattern here was written for this instrument.