# Syncopation?



## BornToLooze (Jun 12, 2012)

Can somebody explain syncopation to me? Is it basically playing off beat? Because the only song I know that has it the chorus in Eye of the Beholder is supposed to be syncopated, but the tab I have for it is just 8th note triplets. And can somebody recommend me some songs to help me practice it? Preferably something thrashy and with guitar pro tabs so I can slow it down


----------



## Brill (Jun 13, 2012)

Syncopation is just a shift in the accent. in modern music, we mainly play in 4/4 and it is accent Strong, Weak, Medium, Weak. Syncopation is the shifting of it so it has a better feel.

 This video has a good quick little excersise to help you get your head around it.


----------



## Mr. Big Noodles (Jun 13, 2012)

Syncopation is anything that disrupts an even, metered beat.







It doesn't just have to be with 4, either.






This is an interesting case. Notice that the triplet in the first bar is not necessarily syncopated. This is because we hear the big beat as being even ("1 2 3, 1 2 3"). The second bar in the second system, though, has the same big beat going on, but what's going on at the subdivision level is uneven. Syncopation is sometimes subjective.

Methods for syncopation:

&#8226; Leaving out beats (rests) - This may or may not create a sense of syncopation. This is most successful when the rest occurs on a downbeat, or on a strong beat within the measure (1 and 3 in a measure of 4, or 1 and 2 in a measure of 3).

&#8226; Tying notes - Once again, most effective when the downbeat is displaced.

&#8226; Dotted rhythms - This is similar to tying notes, since a note value is held over a beat.

&#8226; Tuplets - Redefining the division of a beat. This can be subjective. Generally, we're fine hearing duplets and triplets interspersed. Occasionally, in a duplet-dominated rhythm, a triplet sounds syncopated. Or in a triplet-dominated rhythm, a duplet sounds syncopated. Our ears aren't as accustomed to hearing quintuplets, septuplets and nontuplets, though, so unless those are the principal division of the beat, we're likely to hear those as being some perversion of the beat at the division level. You have to develop an aural concept for what syncopation is in order to make the judgment on that sort of thing.


----------



## groverj3 (Jun 15, 2012)

To put it simply. Syncopation is accenting anything other than the downbeats in a measure. At least, that's what I learned in middle and high school band playing the saxophone back in the day.


----------



## axxessdenied (Jun 16, 2012)

Meshuggah uses a lot of syncopation.


----------

