Take Five Drum Beat Lesson

Learn Joe Morello’s Take Five Drum Beat

It’s time to learn the Take Five drum beat people, and that’s a good thing. If you’re here reading this then you probably already know about Joe Morello’s drum beat in the Dave Brubeck classic track ‘Take Five’. If you don’t then that’s also cool because you’re about to discover something very special which can help your drumming in so many ways.

The tune was composed by the sax player in the band Paul Desmond and he performed that prominent sax melody as part of Dave Brubeck’s pioneering quartet when it was released in 1959 on the Time Out album. It’s a great album that explores oddtime in a traditional jazz context with tunes such as ‘Blue Rondo à la Turk’, ‘Three to get ready’ and ‘Pick up sticks’.

The album was a big seller for a jazz album and the single Take Five became a top 40 Billlboard hit!

The track Take Five is written in five four time signature, meaning there are five quarter notes in a bar rather than the usual four quarters that we find in four four time signature. If you’ve tried playing in oddtime before then you know the challenge. If you haven’t then prepare yourself for the challenge because it feels very unnatural at first. But with enough practice it can flow as naturally as any other rhythm.

Joe Morello creates a majestic flowing pattern for the Take Five drum beat by basing it on the traditional jazz ride pattern with two and four hi-hat pedals. Except now he has to add an extra quarter notes worth of pattern to fill the five four bar so we get that extra ride followed by two ghosted snares played as a triplet. It’s a lovely little turn around and feels really good to play.

He also uses a great little snare comping pattern that involves ghost notes and accents to create an interesting phrasing that complements the piano vamp really well.

But as if the awesome Take Five drum beat wasn’t enough, Morello also uses this song as a vehicle to create a very musical drum solo at the end. This song has helped my overall drumming in many ways that have transcended this style and seeped into many areas of my playing.

1. The ability to improvise freely over oddtime, and particularly five four, is thanks to this song. When I solo in five four, where possible I don’t count five four. That method is really hard and really, really non-musical. Instead I sing the piano chord rhythm from Take Five and play to that in my head. It means I am much freer and much more musical as I can weave around that, play to it, play around it and even move fully away from it whilst still retaining my place in the bar. It works really well so try it. You could use other strong rhythmic ideas in five four as well such as the Mission: Impossible Theme.
2. Using a foot ostinato to solo over. Morello’s foot ostinato through the tune is kick drum on beat one, hi-hat pedal on beats two and four. Use this as an ostinato to solo over and it will greatly benefit your playing. It’s really, really, really hard at first because the ostinato is in five four. You will learn this ostinato in the lesson below by the way.
3. The space that he uses in his solo. I love how he’ll play a stron rhythmic phrase and then leave a gap. It creates a very dramatic effect and allows the music to breathe a little. It also means it’s more exciting when he does build up the intensity.

But even without the drum solo, just learning the Take Five drum beat will allow you to play this song, develop a deeper understanding of five four time, help your jazz playing, and gain an understanding of one of the most famous drum beats in recorded history.

Below you can access the lesson. Here you will get a video breakdown of each element and how to put it together. You will also get full sheet music and an MP3 backing track that you can use to jam with and get creative.

But first watch the video below to get a feel for it.

And now if you’re ready let’s get the full lesson below.

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