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Mother Nature’s calling card is symmetry. Even Father Physics can’t fool Mother Nature (remember the old “Parkay” margarine commercials? Ok, I’m dating myself…), because entropy and chaos/fractal theory still render patterns of inexplicable symmetrical complexity. Music is no exception. The symmetrical time signatures of 4/4 (most things), 2/4 (polkas, marches), and 6/8 (usually two groups of 3, such as a jig) are so natural one doesn’t even think of the meter. (The bottom number simply refers to what kind of note gets the beat: 4=quarter note, 8=eighth note. It has no bearing on the “feel” of the rhythm, just how it’s written and mathematically subdivided)

Even a waltz, which is an odd number of 3 is really 1, not three individual beats. Think of a pair dancing in a Victorian ballroom, the bodies really actually move on the 1 downbeat: 1-2-3 1-2-3 1-2-3. What was an odd number is, in physical human expression, one fluid motion that happens to be divided in three subdivisions. (I’m ignoring some musically famous but undanceable “waltzes” of late Romantic and 20th century composers where, while technically a waltz, a ferret on crack couldn’t keep up with dancing it.)

I am alone once again, my wife and daughter back in the USA, trying to get some order back into my life. My now quiet home is both a peaceful sanctuary to study and a prison of solitude. Our parting was exactly what I didn’t want–stressful, agitated, unfulfilled. I miss my daughter terribly–her sweet, gummy smile when she sees me. It’s so hard to study with her innocent noise, yet the empty rooms distract me with their silent cacophony.

What about 5? Oooh. Now there’s a problem. Not really anything fits into 5, being a totally disjointed number of beats between a natural 4 and an easily divisible 6. Even in visual terms, a pentagon has no real axis of symmetry while a square, hexagon and triangle all do. The simple act of walking with a 5-beat in your head is like being on the verge of stumbling.

So too I feel like I’m stumbling along, not really sure where to put my feet, wondering if at any minute I’m going to fall. In general, I often feel unnatural, unconventional, like I don’t exactly fit in. As a med student, I stand out on so many levels: I’m way overweight, I’m in my mid-30s, it’s hard to find common ground with the young 20-somethings in class. I’m outspoken yet reserved. I seek camaraderie while at the same time knowing I can be hard to approach. My thoughts are vastly complex, but my needs as a person are rather simple. 5 takes extra time to figure out.

So what does one do with such an unnatural meter? Divide it, of course! Music in 5 naturally gets subdivided in either a 3+2 or a 2+3 pattern. Nature doesn’t have a problem with 2 or 3, so 5 can exist without seeming totally aberrant. Now It wouldn’t be right for me to make all these musical allusions and metaphors without sharing some actual music.

With all the selections below, count “1-2-3-4-5, 1-2-3-4-5, etc.” in your head, flip your fingers, whatever you need to count, so you can get a real feel of what’s going on rhythmically:

Dave Brubeck’s “Take 5″ (excerpt): Probably the most famous 5-meter piece to modern ears and a proud start to this list, it was a classic the day it was released. My dad has the original LP and although this is the title selection, the whole album is gold. A crystal clear example of a 3+2 meter (1-2-3-4-5, 1-2-3-4-5…)
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Tchaikovsky-”Pathetique” Symphony (No. 6), 2nd movment (excerpt): This is a twist on a twist, since this has all the right elements of that elegant ballroom depicted above, but now the graceful waltzing pair has suddenly turned into a horrific example of one person with a 5-inch-heeled orthotic shoe and the other with a cerebellar lesion. It feels this way because Tchaikovsky wrote a 3+2 / 2+3 dual pattern (ie, two measures make a single rhythmical mirror-image), but only a genius as he could have pulled off this aberration with such elegance and grace. Everything should be “wrong” here, but it’s so masterfully written, all that is perceived is beauty. Counting is “1-2-3-4-5 1-2-3-4-5, 1-2-3-4-5 1-2-3-4-5….” (it might be easier to count “1-2-3-1-2 1-2-1-2-3, 1-2-3-1-2 1-2-1-2-3….”)
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Holst-”Mars, The Bringer of War” (from “The Planets”) If you think you’ve heard this before and you do not listen to classical music, that’s because John Williams (“Star Wars”), Hans Zimmer (“Gladiator”), and virtually every modern film composer has shamefully stolen motifs from this work written in 1916. I left the whole piece here for listening because it’s just such a bad-ass work. While the melodic motifs are mostly a 3+2 pattern, the real driving force is a straight 5 meter relentless ostinato rhythm. It’s first established in the beginning, softly and ominously with the timpani and the strings marked col legno in the score (Italian, “with the wood”) meaning to percussively hit the strings with the wood of the bow–that’s the light “clacking” noise. As the war machine moves menacingly forward, this rhythm ends up in the hands of the entire percussion battery and high brass towards the end at 4:22. Fasten your seat belt!
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Maybe it’s not so bad in 5-land. 3 was always my favorite number growing up, but I’m older now, so maybe 5 suits me better. I am unique. I am creative. I am full of surprises and can vary my step, depending. I might be awkward, but like the Tchaikovsky movement, there is no less beauty there just because I’m different. I can chill out if I let myself, or I can be a relentless juggernaut driving towards whatever goal I have in my sights. I am who I am, and regardless of the fact that I am different in 5, I keep moving forward nonetheless.

Music, Personal, Philosophical Musings | enrico | March 15, 2007 1:23 pm

By Sid Schwab, March 16, 2007 @ 12:39 pm

“Take 5″ was a revelation to me when it came out. In college my freshman roomie was a musician who taught himself, then me, to pat out 5 on 4 on our thighs: five with the left hand, four with the right. I felt very accomplished, and do it whenever I hear the tune.

I’m sorry to hear about the one on zero situation. It’s a high price, indeed, for one’s dream.
By enrico, March 16, 2007 @ 8:13 pm

Dr. S.: 4 against 5? Wow! Most people struggle in the beginning with 2 against 3–you clearly were a percussive prodigy! 4 against 5 is about as complex as it gets with “exact” accuracy. I’ve had to play 5 against 7, 10 against 6 (this is about finger figurations on the piano, one hand each with one set). For these, you basically start them together and get to the next common beat together, and just let the chips fall where they may as evenly as you can.

Regarding Claudia and baby leaving for the readers who are new/don’t remember my mentioning it, this trip was planned in advance to take care of business stateside. She wasn’t leaving me permanently (not yet, anyway), but it looks like it will be longer than I’d like. We’ll see.
By travelingdoc, March 20, 2007 @ 9:47 am

This is a wonderful piece. You are certainly using your time well. I couldn’t get but a second of the songs –bandwidth I think.–but recognize the artistry in the writing and pulling it all together.
By Celeste, March 20, 2007 @ 10:35 am

This was a really great post; you’re not doing so badly if you can pull together something like this.

Here’s hoping for the best on all fronts.
By Wyatt, March 20, 2007 @ 10:24 pm

I really enojyed the piece. Walking with a 5-beat in your head is more like dancing than stumbling, though, isn’t it? You know that the 1 is coming a little earlier than expected so you take the 4 and 5 just a little bit lighter. And even if everybody else only needs four steps to get to the next measure, that fifth step is really what makes a measure memorable and worthwhile.
By claudia, March 20, 2007 @ 11:29 pm

Amazing, when the hell did you have time to do this with our wonderful 10 month old that demands your attention?

Seriously, I am so impressed and I think…my pookie is so smart . I’m blown away. And I can’t believe Holst’s piece. He should’a sued.
By Meghan, March 21, 2007 @ 9:28 am

Found you through Grand Rounds…wonderful entry! Thank you so much for including musical examples. I played bass clarinet on Mars in college and this piece just brought back some wonderful memories. This was such a fun piece to play. We played this piece as a part of our “John Williams” concert…easy to see why.
By Kim, March 21, 2007 @ 8:20 pm

Holy cow! That Holst piece ROCKED! And it was written in 1916, yet could be (and was, apparently) used in any modern film! It was, eerily familiar although I had never heard it before.

Thanks for providing the opportunity to hear it today!

(and I hope you are in good spirits! It’s always melancholy for me when my adult kids leave after Christmas. Even with one teenager left, the house is very quiet…)
By herb, March 28, 2007 @ 2:01 pm

Think prime numbers
By Alexis Neves, November 10, 2007 @ 8:25 pm

Very nice site, i love it!
By dee, December 11, 2007 @ 3:22 am

Big 5 to you!

A great read. I don’t normally get through blogs, but yours I enjoyed. How can anyone not, especially when you compare life to musical meter.

Peace from Portland Oregon
By alagrijma, May 19, 2008 @ 11:50 pm

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