5/8 Metronome
Tap a beat to accent or mute it
bpm Andante
Time signature
How the beats are grouped. The top number is how many beats are in a bar, the bottom number which note gets the beat: 4/4 is four quarter notes, 6/8 is six eighth notes. Custom builds any other.Subdivision
Adds extra clicks between the beats: two per beat (eighth notes), three (triplets) or four (sixteenth notes), so you can lock in faster rhythms.Sound
The click itself: Hi Hats, Rim Click, Digital or Toms. Pick whichever cuts through your guitar best.Custom time signature
- Space Play / stop
- Up arrowDown arrow Tempo
- T Tap tempo
- 1-4 Sounds
Speed Trainer
Builds speed for you. Turn it on and the tempo starts at Start at, then goes up by Speed up by every few bars until it reaches Stop at.5/8 has five eighth notes in every bar, felt as a group of two and a group of three. It goes by quickly, and it has a lopsided, skipping feel that you hear in progressive rock, metal and Balkan folk dances.
What does the 5/8 time signature mean?
The top 5 means five notes per bar, and the bottom 8 means they are eighth notes. The bar is short, so you usually feel just two uneven beats in it: a short one and a long one.
TypeOdd meter, 5 eighth notes per bar
How to count 5/8 time
Say it: "ONE two, THREE four five"
Count all five and accent the start of each group. In 2+3 the accents are on 1 and 3, in 3+2 they are on 1 and 4. At faster tempos you stop counting the numbers and just feel "short, long" or "long, short".
Accent patterns to try
Press a pattern to set the metronome to it and start the click.
The tempo in 5/8
In 5/8 the metronome clicks every eighth note. The tempo number still counts quarter notes, so you hear twice as many clicks as the number says: at 100 bpm that is 200 clicks a minute.
How 5/8 feels
5/8 feels like a skip in your step. Because the two groups are different lengths, the music never settles into an even pulse, which gives riffs in 5/8 a restless, forward push.
Songs in 5/8
- Red by King Crimson
- Losing It by RushThe intro and verses
- Schism by ToolThe verses, alternating with 7/8
- Five Five Five by Frank ZappaAlternating with 5/4
Practice 5/8 on guitar
- Set the tempo to 80 bpm and palm-mute a single note on every click, accenting the start of each group.
- Play a chord on each accent and rest on the other clicks. Try both groupings.
- Play two bars of 5/8 and then one bar of 6/8, and listen to how the shorter bar pulls you forward.
Learn 5/8 with a teacher
Hear it played, count along and try it yourself with these video lessons from the Infinite Guitar library:
Other time signatures
5/8 time signature FAQ
How do you count 5/8 time?
Count "1 2 3 4 5" in eighth notes and accent the start of each group: 1 and 3 for 2+3, or 1 and 4 for 3+2.
Is 5/8 the same as 5/4?
They both have five pulses per bar, but in 5/8 each pulse is an eighth note, so at the same tempo a bar of 5/8 is half as long as a bar of 5/4.