If you switch on the TV or radio, and randomly listen to some music that’s playing, it’s extremely likely the music will be in 4 4 time. In other words, there will be four quarter beats to each bar.

However, not all music has 4 beats to the bar. You’ve probably heard other music, such as Waltzes, which are in 3 4 time - these have 3 quarter beats to the bar.

Even rarer than that, are musical pieces in 5 4 time, five quarter beats to each bar.

In this article we’ll share with you our five favourite pieces of music in this unusual time signature, which is also known as “quintuple time”. The pieces here don’t conform to any single genre, but have all been released in the last 70 years.

We’ve embedded a video for each track so you can hear how they sonud. Try counting along from 1 to 5 as you listen to each song.

5. Mission Impossible Theme by Lalo Schifrin

Kicking off our list is the theme tune to Mission Impossible which was written by Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin. It’s perhaps the most well known tune out of all the entries in this list.

The iconic theme was first released in 1966 for the original Mission Impossible TV series, and was reused for the rebooted film franchise starring Tom Cruise.

The motif is characterised by a repeating sequence of two long notes, followed by two short notes, — — • •. When writing the melody’s rhythm down in this way, a hidden meaning is revealed because in Morse code, these symbols represent the letters “MI”.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find out which songs make up the remainder of our top 5 list.

4. Tolerate it by Taylor Swift

Tolerate it by Taylor Swift is the most recently released song in our list. It’s the fifth track on her 2020 album evermore, an introspective album that Swift recorded and released during the COVID lockdowns of that year.

Gentle piano chords play throughout this ballad as Swift sings about the pain of being in a one-sided relationship.

3. From Eden by Hozier

From Eden, by Irish songwriter Hozier, sounds completely natural in its 5 4 time signature. It’s a testament to the high quality of the composition that many people in fact have no idea it is in 5 4 time until it’s pointed out to them.

Most 5 4 songs give listeners a slightly uncanny feeling because the time signature is so unusual - but From Eden sounds completely at home.

Admittedly, the song does briefly switch to a regular 4 4 time signature at 0:50, and 2:21, but for the most part, this song is written in 5 4 time.

2. Everything’s Alright from the musical Jesus Christ Superstar

Everything’s Alright is a song written by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics by Tim Rice, and features in the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar.

The musical was originally released as an album in 1970. The revenue generated from the album sales enabled a stage show to be produced the following year.

The original recording of Everything’s Alright features three main vocalists, Yvonne Elliman in the role of Mary Magdalene, Ian Gillan (of Deep Purple fame) in the role of Jesus Christ and Murray Head as Judas Iscariot.

1. Take Five by Dave Brubeck Quartet

There could only be one choice for the number one spot in this list. As a piano focused website, it has to be Take Five by the brilliant jazz band the Dave Brubeck Quartet which proudly embraces its unusual time signature in the title of the tune.

The piece was written by band member Paul Desmond and was released in 1959. It has since become a jazz standard, played widely around the world. It features a saxophone lick dancing lightly over a repeating piano chord riff in E-flat minor, and is the epitome of the cool jazz genre.

Let us know in the comments below - what are your favourite pieces in the 5 4 time signature?