When playing “Take Five,” jazz musicians typically only solo over the opening vamp of Ebm and Bbm7. Musical ideas and jazz piano practice tips: (for international readers who may not have access to these YouTube links, I’ve indicated the original album names wherever possible so you can listen to them on music streaming services, etc.) Give it a try yourself!Įnjoy the journey, and “let the music flow!”

The hard work really paid off when I felt confident soloing over the Brubeck tunes while playing with Chris. As I walked, I counted each step: “1-2-3-4-5, 1-2-3-4-5” until it became as easy as 1-4 for me. I spent about a week walking around counting in odd meters, since I knew we were going to play some of Dave’s tunes in 5/4 and 7/4 time. I remember once when I was preparing to play a few concerts with Chris Brubeck, who is one of Dave’s sons. It’s still not easy at first, but nowadays we learn about these time signatures earlier in our development so we start learning them sooner.Īfter a while, it can become second nature to improvise in 5/4 and 7/4. So “Take Five” presented a huge challenge. They weren’t used to playing in anything other than ¾ or 4/4 time. But not many musicians in the 1960s could play “Take Five” when it first came out. Nowadays, most jazz players become fairly fluent in playing “odd” meters like 5/4 and 7/4. Every aspect of the tune, from the opening rhythmic vamp to the main melody to the bridge, is very catchy. And, not only is it in 5/4 time, but more importantly in terms of it’s popularity, the tune is catchy. The thing that made “Take Five” so extraordinary was that it was the first widely-heard jazz piece that was in an unusual time signature. Everybody heard “Take Five,” which was on Brubeck’s Time Out album. This was at a time when jazz instrumentals could be heard on Top 40 radio, side-by-side with pop music. Brubeck’s music had an enormous impact on not just the jazz scene but on the overall musical world of the time. “Take Five” was composed in 1960 by Paul Desmond, who was the longtime alto saxophonist in The Dave Brubeck Quartet. A Guide To Help You Play Better Jazz Piano

Take five piano