Q:

Feeling eighth note quintuplets

Many of my favorite really complicated songs have these quintuplets in them (5 equally-spaced notes in the space of a quarter note), yet I can't seem to "feel" these 5-note subdivisions. I have no trouble listening to, say, Take 5 by Dave Brubeck and feeling that, but how on earth can I feel the 5-note divisions in the context of a 4/4 time signature? How do the really advanced players of these songs conceptualise this rhythm?
If the answer is just to practice it, that's okay, but ideally if anyone knows any helpful tips, that would be great.

A:

I'd start easy. See if you can feel triplets. See if you can switch easily between feeling triplets and feeling duplets or quadruplets. Once you've got that down, see if you can feel quintuplets (or at least have a strong enough pulse that you can try stuffing 5 notes in each beat instead of 3 or 4).

