Asymmetric time signatures like 5/8, 7/8, and 11/8 can feel tricky at first. The beats don't divide evenly, so you need to feel the grouping, like 2+3 in 5/8, or 2+2+3 in 7/8. These type of rhythms are sometimes called "odd" or "complex", but "asymmetric" sounds like the best word to describe them.
SightRead.org now supports these meters so you can practice to your heart's content.
These meters can be thought of as groups of 2 and 3 eights. And so a 5/8 can be 2 eights plus 3 eights, or 3 + 2. Similarly 7/8 can be 2+2+3 or 3+2+2 or 2+3+2.
SightRead supports all combinations, but once a combination is picked at random, it stays consistent throughout an exercise. That's more representative of real music out there. The selected grouping is used every time 7/8 appears in the exercise, even if the meter changes to 4/4 and back to 7/8. (yup, that's right you can mix asymmetric rhythms with simple and with compound ones too!)
How it works
To see these in action, use the ⚙️ Settings icon to pick an asymmetric rhythm.
Enable any of the asymmetric time signatures (5/8, 7/8 or 11/8) in the Settings panel. When you generate an exercise, the app randomly selects a valid beat grouping and uses it consistently.
The grouping is shown above the first measure of each asymmetric time signature (like (2+2+3) in the example above), so you always know how to feel the beat.
Fun fact
I'm from Bulgaria, 7/8 and the likes are very popular in Balkan music, so I couldn't imagine NOT supporting it in SightRead.org.
Happy sight reading! 👀