Find Key & BPM

5/4 Time Signature: How to Count Five Beats

A 5/4 bar holds five quarter-note beats. The usual grouping is 3+2, so the weight lands on beat 1 and again on beat 4. Some pieces flip that to 2+3. Five is not a multiple of three, so this meter is irregular (asymmetric), not compound.

  1. 1strong
  2. 2weak
  3. 3weak
  4. 4medium
  5. 5weak

Say “ONE two three FOUR five” for 3+2. For 2+3, move the second weight to beat 3: ONE two THREE four five.

What the two numbers mean

Top number 5: five beats in the bar. Bottom number 4: the quarter note is one beat. Ten eighth notes fill the bar. Each quarter still splits into two eighths, which is why the meter stays simple even though the bar is an odd length.

One bar of 5/4
Piece of the bar Count
Quarter-note beats 5
Eighth notes 10
Common groups 3+2, or 2+3
Family Irregular simple meter, not compound

How to count five beats

Clap every quarter, then lean on the start of each group. In 3+2 you lean on 1 and 4, so the long group comes first. In 2+3 you lean on 1 and 3. Keep counting through 5 before you restart. Stopping at 4 turns the bar into 4/4.

  1. Tap a steady quarter-note pulse.
  2. Speak five numbers and only then return to 1.
  3. Notice which later number also feels like a downbeat: 4 means 3+2, 3 means 2+3.
  4. If the pulse itself breaks into threes, leave this page for compound time.

Why 5/4 is not 4/4 and not compound time

4/4 stops one quarter earlier and usually stresses 1 and 3. Adding one more quarter, and moving the second stress, is the whole difference. Two quarter-note marches belong on the 2/4 time signature page. A half-note beat is cut time.

Compound time needs a top number that is a multiple of 3, because each beat is three of the bottom notes. Five is not that multiple. 6/8, 9/8 and 12/8 are the compound set, explained on the compound time page. Whether a six-eighth bar is felt as 6/8 or as 3/4 is a separate question, answered on the 6/8 and 3/4 page.

A verified 5/4 opening: Holst, Mars

Wikipedia’s The Planets article, read on 2026-10-14, says Mars is marked allegro and is in a relentless 5/4 ostinato for most of its duration, citing Holst (1921), pages 1–2. The piece was published in 1921, so the composition is public domain in the United States. The 5/4 label comes from that citation. The numbers below only measure this recording.

Holst, The Planets, Op. 32, I. Mars, the Bringer of War, opening. Skidmore College Orchestra. Commons file Holst, The Planets, Op. 32 - I. Mars, the Bringer of War.ogg, marked CC0; the Commons source line names Musopen. This clip is the first 20 seconds.
Repeating gaps in the opening clip
Gap About Reading if the bar is five equal quarters
2.215 seconds (strongest) 27.1 bars a minute One 5/4 bar
2.215 / 5 = 0.443 seconds 135 quarter notes a minute One beat inside that bar
0.454 seconds (weaker peak) 132 a minute A nearby quarter-sized gap

Read the bar first: about 27 bars a minute from the 2.215-second gap, which is about 135 quarter notes if the five beats are equal. The separate 0.454-second peak is a bit slower, about 132. Both figures are this opening, after the clip was leveled. They are not a tempo Holst printed.

Wikipedia’s quintuple meter article also prints a 5/4 signature on the second movement of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, and it names Take Five (Paul Desmond) and the Mission: Impossible theme (Lalo Schifrin) as 5/4. Those later recordings stay under copyright, so they are names only. This page does not host them.

Five quarters, or the ten eighths inside them

Give the converter a tempo and tell it whether your number is already in quarter notes or in eighth notes. It answers with the length of one 5/4 bar.

One 5/4 bar at the typed tempo
Value
One bar lasts 3 seconds
Bars per minute 20
Quarter-note beats per minute 100
Eighth notes per minute 200

One hundred twenty quarters each minute make a 5/4 bar of 2.5 seconds, so the minute holds 24 of those bars and 240 eighth notes.

Get a BPM, then count to five yourself

Drop a file on the audio analyzer when you want a speed. The result is a tempo, never “5/4”. Count the five beats on this page, or tap them with tap tempo. How the site reads a BPM is on the BPM guide.

5/4 time signature: quick answers

What is a 5/4 time signature?

Five quarter-note beats in a bar, commonly grouped 3+2 or 2+3.

How do you count 5/4?

For 3+2 say ONE two three FOUR five. For 2+3 say ONE two THREE four five.

Is 5/4 compound time?

No. A compound top number is a multiple of 3. Five is irregular, and each quarter still splits in two.

How is 5/4 different from 4/4?

4/4 has four quarter-note beats. 5/4 keeps going for a fifth beat and usually places a second accent on beat 4 or beat 3.

Which piece on this page is verified as 5/4?

The opening of Holst’s Mars, from the 1921 score as cited by Wikipedia’s Planets article on 2026-10-14.

What speed is the Mars clip?

About 27 bars a minute from a 2.215-second bar, which is about 135 quarter notes if the five beats are equal. A weaker 0.454-second peak is about 132.

What this page leaves open