Avoiding the 5/4 Clave (Sungazer's Ether)

New Sungazer EP coming January 7, 2019! Pre-save it on Spotify now:

What is the 5/4 clave? And how do you break out of it?

The second in a series entitled "Excuse me kind sir, but what the devil is it that you are doing here exactly?" where I break down some nifty compositional things that I'm working on in music I'm releasing.

In this episode we check out Sungazer's Ether, and look at different ways of avoiding the cliche of the 5/4 clave.

Sungazer

Sungazer is...

Me (Adam Neely)

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Shawn Crowder

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Special Guest

Pier Luigi Salami

[shredthenarbro]

You're friends with someone named Pier Luigi Salami

[elkwoodarrow]

Talented Musician: "Let's jam in 5/4"

Me: "Sure I'll meet you at the 21s bar"

[gasolineandwine]

I just noticed that nearing the end of Pier's synth solo, he wiggled his finger while playing a note. I do that all the time, thinking I'll get a vibrato out of it.

[Atticus_Moore]

That song is a perfect example of "limitations fuel creativity". Picking 5/4 time signature, but avoiding the feel you're used to playing.

[RCAvhstape]

First song I learned in 5/4 was Trees by Rush when I was in that teenage phase.

[MrMikkyn]

This is beautiful! Beyond words, the 5/4 has an ultra floaty feel. Its like a cross between Radiohead and Snarky Puppy, with an indie post rock vibe. Most of all it just sounss incredibly original but relaxing yet familiar at the same time. Great work, it sounds like a great accompaniment to a videogame

[ringocancount]

This is outstanding in every way. The shuffling rhythm disguises the 5/4 time sig, production is beautiful, all instruments are played competently and the song sounded incredible. Good job!

[iamalpharius]

I write a lot of my music in 5 and 7.
Sometimes we get out into 9/8 and 11/16.
But nothing beats a CRUSHING SLOW RIFFING IN 3/4
I will be forever grateful for my grandmother giving me the gift of music both genetically and in her lessons in appreciation and love for the art.

[grannywalter]

Me: Can we stop to get something dark and atmospheric?

Jazz musicians: We have dark and atmospheric at home.

Dark and atmospheric at home:

[andrewdavey]

This groove has a weird sense of momentum to it, it pulls through like looking at landscapes out the window of moving train

[edwarda.casimiro]

I had to force myself to stop counting, but once I did that, I thoroughly enjoyed the song.  Great job!

[timhoneycutt]

They should make a piano with pedals that will hit the harmonics. Like you could have one that hits the effective 12th fret harmonics and one for the 5th fret harmonics. This way you can get the clear octave harmonic with the 1/2 node harmonic and what i can only think of to be described as a thin or brittle 1/4 node harmonic (usually the 5th fret harmonic is quiet and thin on guitar). Id imagine that this would be pretty difficult because pianos are either small and crowded inside or large enough that putting something to press a node in the middle of the string would be very obtrusive. The best way to do it would probably be to press the nodes from beneath the string in the case of a grand piano but upright pianos are too small to really fit a mechanism like that.

[nickjensen]

5/4 is a favorite time signature of mine. I like to play it straight, instead of grouping it uneven groupings

[Dooality]

Love the song. However, I know you said you don't play on the 1, but my ear quickly rearranged itself and the 2 became the 1 for me for pretty much the whole song. Did this happen to anyone else?

[sw]

I am taking my first music theory class after more than 17 years playing guitar and two years violin. With that said, I must say I learned more in the few videos of yours I just watched than I have in all the jumbled conversations I've had with other musicians over the years. Thank you for being concise!

[RegularPhil]

I just love learning how much I don't know about music. Thank you for that.

As a amateur, self-taught guitar player and overall music lover it blows my mind how much stuff gets into making a piece like this. If you hadn't explained these palm muted piano-notes I'm sure I would've missed it. That's why it's always more impressive seeing people actually perform the songs. Great video, thank you.

[petrajaros]

Here 8 years later, in 2023, after listening to Ether enough times to wonder "What's really going on with that 5/4? It feels different…" and Googling it hoping to find…well, basically exactly this video. Adam Neely does not disappoint. :)

[palibakufun]

I did a thing one time for a composition assignment in my theory class, where I tried to avoid doing a 2+3 or 3+2 feel for the 5/8. I wanted it to be in 5, but I wanted it to be divided evenly, into 2 big beats per measure. I had to make a really dumb rhythm (quarter note tied to a sixteenth note x 2) in the bassline, but it had a really cool feel to it.

[KadintheGuitarDude]

One of my all-time favorite things in music is when people write in odd meters but successfully disguise them with enough groove

[Kreuz_Kraft]

I have no idea of what he is talking about but I like it
you earned a new subscriber I guess