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Odd Meters and the Hemiola

Keep the pulse, change the grouping: regroup six pulses into a hemiola, add one beat for 5/4, lose one from eight for 7/4, and make all three feel natural.

In this lesson you'll

  • Regroup six pulses as 3 + 3 or 2 + 2 + 2 and hear the hemiola: three against two at the same speed.
  • Feel 5/4 as 3 + 2 (or 2 + 3) and 7/4 as 4 + 3 or 2 + 2 + 3, counting and clapping the accents.
  • Play a chord loop in 5/4 (Am G | F E) and in 7/4 (C F | Am G), changing chord at the start of each group.

Music in this lesson

  • America (West Side Story)Leonard Bernstein · 1957
  • Take FiveThe Dave Brubeck Quartet · 1959
  • Mission: Impossible themeLalo Schifrin · 1966
  • Mars, the Bringer of WarGustav Holst · 1914–16
  • MoneyPink Floyd · 1973
  • Solsbury HillPeter Gabriel · 1977
  • Unsquare DanceDave Brubeck · 1961

Remember

Six pulses can be grouped 3 + 3 or 2 + 2 + 2: only the accents move, and switching between them makes a hemiola.

Five beats can't split evenly, so the ear hears 3 + 2: one extra beat breaks the symmetry and creates tension.

Seven is 4 + 3 or 2 + 2 + 3: every bar ends one beat early, like a skipped step your body learns.