The Dave Brubeck Quartet · 1959 · 9/8
The 9/8 odd meter in Blue Rondo à la Turk by The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Press play to count the meter or try the original drum exercise. Slow the pulse down or speed it up to feel how the pattern works.
Original practice groove. Count nine eighth notes in groups of 2 + 2 + 2 + 3. Accented click cells mark each group’s start. These drum hits are an original grouping exercise, not Joe Morello’s recorded groove.
● Hit · empty cell = rest. Switch a part off and play it yourself.
Repeating phrase
Count 9. Repeat after 9 eighth-note pulses.
Practice tempo: 80 BPM (quarter-note beat)
One click per eighth note. Accented cells sound stronger. 160 eighth-note pulses/min. Choose half speed for easier counting.
Note: The player loops a 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 grouping in 9/8. It does not model every grouping or section in the composition, transcribe the recorded drum part or synchronise with Spotify.
Tempo: The practice setting is 80 quarter-note BPM, or 160 eighth-note pulses per minute. This is a counting tempo, not the recording’s tempo.
Simplified educational demo, not a transcription of the recording.
Hear the real thing
Playing the track pauses the demo automatically (and vice versa) so they don't fight each other.
What's happening rhythmically
Blue Rondo à la Turk opens in 9/8, as Dave Brubeck’s official site identifies. Rather than treating nine eighth notes as three equal groups of three, practise its characteristic uneven grouping as two, two, two and three.
Say one-two, one-two, one-two, one-two-three while keeping every small pulse the same length. The last group is longer, but the pulse does not slow down. This player loops that grouping only; it does not follow the complete arrangement or its other rhythmic sections.
What to listen for
- On the record: the short-short-short-long grouping of the opening theme
- In Count clicks: stronger clicks on pulses one, three, five and seven
- The final three-pulse group making room before the phrase returns to one
Practise this rhythm
- Begin with Count clicks at half speed. Say the four groups aloud without stretching the final three pulses.
- Choose Drum exercise. Keep the hi-hat even and add the kick on the marked cells.
- Mute Snare and tap its hits yourself. Then return to Count clicks and maintain the full exercise without drum sounds.
