syncopation

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In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak beats in a meter (pulse). These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be stressed. "If a part of the measure that is usually unstressed is accented, the rhythm is considered to be syncopated."^[2]

More simply, syncopation a general term for a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm; a placement of rhythmic stresses or accents where they wouldn't normally occur.^[3]

Syncopation is used in many musical styles, if not all, and is fundamental in such styles as funk, ska, reggae, ragtime, rap, jump blues, progressive rock, jazz, breakbeat and often in dubstep, heavy metal, and classical music. "All dance music makes use of [syncopation] and it's often a vital element that helps tie the whole track together".^[4] In the form of a back beat, syncopation is used in virtually all contemporary popular music.

Although some musical styles have built their character around syncopation, it has been an important element of musical composition since at least the Middle Ages.^[5]

Syncopation can also occur when a strong harmony is placed on a weak beat, for instance when a 7th-chord is placed on the second beat of 3/4 measure or a dominant is placed at the fourth beat of a 4/4 measure. The latter frequently occurs in tonal cadences in 18th and early 19th century music and is the usual conclusion of any section. A hemiola can also be seen as one straight measure in 3 with one long chord and one short chord and a syncope in the measure thereafter, with one short chord and one long chord: 3 ≥ . | . ≥ | Usually, the last chord in a hemiola is a (bi-)dominant, and as such a strong harmony on a weak beat, hence a syncope.

Types of syncopation

Technically, "syncopation occurs when a temporary displacement of the regular metrical accent occurs, causing the emphasis to shift from a strong accent to a weak accent."^[6] "Syncopation is," however, "very simply, a deliberate disruption of the two- or three-beat stress pattern, most often by stressing an off-beat, or a note that is not on the beat."^[7]

Cognitively, Temperley^[8] argues that most accurately syncopation be described as involving "displacement; in a syncopation, an accent that belongs on a particular strong beat is shifted or displaced to a weak one."

Missed-beat syncopation

Syncopation itself may look as simple as follows, involving the addition of a rest:^[7]

This is an example of the missed beat type of syncopation, in which a rest (silence) is substituted for an expected note.^[9] This can occur on any beat in a measure. "The natural stress of the meter has been disrupted – ONE-two-(three)-FOUR, which is weird, because we want to keep hearing that nonexistent quarter note that would carry the downbeat in the middle of the measure."^[7] This type of syncopation creates tension in a musical piece.

Suspension

This may be thought of as a suspension, as in the following example with two points of syncopation, the third beats which are sustained rather than missed:

Though syncopation may be highly complex, dense or complex looking rhythms often contain no syncopation. The rhythm, though dense, stresses the regular downbeats, 1 & 4 (in 6/8):^[7]

However, whether it's a "carefully placed rest or an accented note...any point of a piece of music that moves your perspective of where the downbeat is a point of syncopation because it's shifting where the strong and weak accents are built."^[7]

"Even-note" syncopation

For example, in meters with even numbers of beats (2/4, 4/4, etc.), the stress normally falls on the odd-numbered beats. If the even-numbered beats are stressed instead, the rhythm is syncopated. Accordingly, the former implies duple meter (1212) while the latter implies quadruple (1234).

Off-beat syncopation

The stress can shift by less than a whole beat so it falls on an off-beat, as in the following example where the stress in the first bar is shifted back by an eighth note (or quaver):

Whereas the notes are expected to fall on the beat:

Playing a note ever so slightly before, or after, a beat is another form of syncopation because this produces an unexpected accent:

Anticipated bass

Anticipated bass^{[citation needed]} is a bass tone that comes syncopated shortly before the downbeat, which is used in Son montuno Cuban dance music. Timing can vary, but it usually comes less than an eighth note before the first and third beats in 4/4 time.

Transformation

Richard Middleton^[10] suggests adding the concept of transformation to Narmour's^[11] prosodic rules which create rhythmic successions in order to explain or generate syncopations. "The syncopated pattern is heard 'with reference to', 'in light of', as a remapping of, its partner." He gives examples of various types of syncopation: Latin, backbeat, and before-the-beat. First however, one may listen to the audio example of stress on the "strong" beats, where expected:

	Unsyncopated example Unsyncopated example with stresses on the beats.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Latin equivalent of simple 4/4

This unsyncopated rhythm is shown in the first measure directly below:

The third measure depicts the syncopated rhythm in the following audio example in which the first and fourth beat are provided as expected, but the accent unexpectedly lands in between the second and third beats, creating a familiar "latin rhythm":

	Latin transformation Syncopated example demonstrating a "latin transformation" or displacement of the stressed beats.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Backbeat transformation of simple 4/4

The accent may be shifted from the first to the second beat in duple meter (and the third to fourth in quadruple), creating the backbeat rhythm familiar in rock drumming beatbox stereotypes:

Different crowds will "clap along" at concerts on either 1 & 3 or 2 & 4, as above.

"Satisfaction" example

	Rhythmic transformations producing "Satisfaction" Rhythmic transformations producing "Satisfaction".
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Before-the-beat phrasing, combined with backbeat transformation of a simple repeated trochee, which gives the phrasing of "Satisfaction",^[10] recommended for its syncopation:^[7]

Syncopation in dance music

In trance music the bass falls between the beat (one &), while the kick drum falls on the beat.^[4]

See also

Music portal

• Syncopation (dance)
• Anacrusis
• Counting (music)

Notes

References

• Seyer, Philip, Allan B. Novick and Paul Harmon (1997). What Makes Music Work. Forest Hill Music. ISBN 0-9651344-0-7.

External links

• Syncopation in Dance and Music
• On syncopation (in Dutch)