For the more enterprising, a handy key to interpret Ted Reed’s Syncopation in 5/8 time. It’s a little obscure for the quasi-initiated, but then… what are you doing playing in 5/8? You’ve got bigger fish to fry.
Thanks to our various jazz methods, we’re used to reading from Syncopation and filling in the middle of the beat to make triplets, here we’ll do that on beats 2 and 4 only, to make three actual 8th notes, rather than an 8th note triplet. As we get into the syncopated-style notation it becomes a little strange visually; you have to think in terms of the sounding rhythm.
You can easily reverse that and make beats 1 and 3 the long beats, or make some form of 10/8 by doing another combination. There’s key at the bottom of the page for making 9/8 or 11/8.
If you can’t do this on the fly, you’ll have to wait for my book Syncopation in 5/4, which I will finish someday, including a section on 5/8. Or content yourself with my other materials in 5/8.
It’s not a perfectly complete system— in that 2+3 orientation we have no notes sounding on the fourth partial, and in a 3+2 orientation we have no notes sounding on the second partial.
I am happy to help you with any of the materials on the site, and with anything else drumming related— contact me for private lessons, online world wide, or in person in Portland, Oregon. All levels of players, and all people, are welcome.
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