"Unsquare Dance" is a composition by jazz pianist

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

that was released as a single in 1961. Included on Brubeck's album '' Time Further Out'', the piece reached No. 93 on the ''Cash Box'' chart on December 16, 1961.

Time signature

Written in time, the piece is an example of Brubeck's exploration of

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western culture, Western musical notation to specify how many beat (music), beats (pulses) are contained in each measu ...

s. According to Brubeck, it was written during a single trip from his home to the

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large en ...

and was recorded the same day. The composition is based on a blues structure but also has a distinct

country and western A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while t ...

feel, as implied in the title (a

square dance A square dance is a dance for four couples, or eight dancers in total, arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, facing the middle of the square. Square dances contain elements from numerous traditional dances and were first documente ...

being a fixture of western US culture). "Unsquare Dance" is driven by a strong bass figure, with

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

provided primarily by the rim of the snare drum and hand claps. It combines duple and

triple meter Triple metre (or Am. triple meter, also known as triple time) is a musical metre characterized by a ''primary'' division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 ( simple) or 9 ( compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with , , ...

. The

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

enters with descending phrases crossing the rhythm. The speed of the piece gradually increases from start to finish. The main theme then develops initially without left

accompaniment Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles ...

and then with a characteristic figure based around the use of tenths. A drum solo using rim shots follows, then a restatement of the theme and a distinctive conclusion. Brubeck says in his liner notes:

Chart performance

"Unsquare Dance" was included on the album '' Time Further Out'' and became a

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

, peaking at No. 74 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 14 on the U.K.'s ''

Record Retailer ''Record Retailer'' was the only music trade newspaper for the UK record industry. It was founded in August 1959 as a monthly newspaper covering both labels and dealers. Its founding editor was Roy Parker (who died on 27 December 1964). The titl ...

'' chart.Dave Brubeck - Full Official Chart History
''

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

''. Retrieved April 14, 2017.

References

{{Authority control 1961 singles 1961 songs CBS Records singles Compositions by Dave Brubeck Jazz compositions