Syncopation

Jay P

I suppose this is the right thread, not sure though. Can somebody please tell me how to recognise syncopation when listening to music? I know the theory behind it and how to recognise it when tis written down, but am clueless otherwise. Tips appreciated

Sinfonia

Depends on what kind of music you're listening to...
Most rock/pop music in 4/4 is syncopated as the accented beats are beats 2 and 4, rather than beats 1 and 3

Jay P

As I said, I know the theory, how do i know if the beat is on the 1st or second? For sake of argument, in rock music

gucci

try asking here perhaps

ogy

easiest way i can think of doing it is if you tap your foot along with the pulse of the song, listen to see if the important/accented/strong melody notes fall on the beat (with your foot tap) or off the beat (inbetween your foot taps). if its off the beat its syncopated.

Sinfonia

Ok, in rock music it's pretty much all syncopated, so if the time signature is 4/4, the beat would fall on 2 and 4, i.e.
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

Typically the drummer (assuming there is one) would hit the bass drum on 1 and 3, and the snare drum on 2 and 4

ogy

Typically the drummer (assuming there is one) would hit the bass drum on 1 and 3, and the snare drum on 2 and 4

while thats technically syncopation i think were all so used to it now the effect is lost.

a more modern style of drum beat syncopation would be:
if the drummer put the bass drum on the 1 and the 3 in the first bar, then put it on the + after the 3 in the second bar, like bum tish bum tish (pause) bumtish bum tish. thats syncopation (if that makes sense:))

as SumGuy said loads of pop/rock is syncopated but syncopation stems from the idea that the note lands where the listener doesn't expect it to.

Blisterman

My understanding is that syncopation, is what makes funk music funky.

cornbb

ogy wrote: »

easiest way i can think of doing it is if you tap your foot along with the pulse of the song, listen to see if the important/accented/strong melody notes fall on the beat (with your foot tap) or off the beat (inbetween your foot taps). if its off the beat its syncopated.

In my (poorly informed) opinion, thats a good description.

SumGuy wrote: »

Ok, in rock music it's pretty much all syncopated, so if the time signature is 4/4, the beat would fall on 2 and 4, i.e.
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

Typically the drummer (assuming there is one) would hit the bass drum on 1 and 3, and the snare drum on 2 and 4

I disagree, in rock music the accent is usually on the beats (1, 2, 3, 4, with the strongest accents on 1 and 3) and if the music is syncopated the accent would typically be on the pluses, like this: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

I think rock music is generally not syncopated but, say, ska and reggae would be.

If you can play guitar, think of it as putting the emphasis on the upstrokes of the pick, not the downstrokes as you usually would.

Having said that my music theory isn't the strongest so maybe I'm talking through my ass...

ogy

I disagree, in rock music the accent is usually on the beats (1, 2, 3, 4, with the strongest accents on 1 and 3)

i almost said something along these lines but then had a little think about it and thats why i said technically a standard kick snare beat is syncopated. traditionally in a bar of 4/4 the first beat is the strongest 3rd beat is second strongest, and 2 and 4 are equally as weak. a snare is definitely louder than a kick so you'd have to say in your normal kick snare kick snare rhythm the 2 and 4 are more emphasised than the 1 and 3 so the emphasis is on the weak beats of the bar i.e. its syncopated. but as i said i think we're so used to this in rock/pop that we don't feel it as syncopated anymore. if you imagine a beat that works the other way, snare kick snare kick, it immediately sounds more traditional/old fashioned: ONE two THREE four.

So something could be interpreted as syncopated if the second half of any time division is emphasised over the first.
one TWO three FOUR
one AND two AND three AND four AND
one A and A two A and A three A and A

yeknow what i mean?:)

cornbb

ogy wrote: »

i almost said something along these lines but then had a little think about it and thats why i said technically a standard kick snare beat is syncopated. traditionally in a bar of 4/4 the first beat is the strongest 3rd beat is second strongest, and 2 and 4 are equally as weak. a snare is definitely louder than a kick so you'd have to say in your normal kick snare kick snare rhythm the 2 and 4 are more emphasised than the 1 and 3 so the emphasis is on the weak beats of the bar i.e. its syncopated. but as i said i think we're so used to this in rock/pop that we don't feel it as syncopated anymore. if you imagine a beat that works the other way, snare kick snare kick, it immediately sounds more traditional/old fashioned: ONE two THREE four.

So something could be interpreted as syncopated if the second half of any time division is emphasised over the first.
one TWO three FOUR
one AND two AND three AND four AND
one A and A two A and A three A and A

yeknow what i mean?:)

I see what you're saying. I'd actually disagree that the snare is stronger than the kick but maybe you're right, maybe this form of syncopation has become so homogenised that it doesn't stand out anymore.

A quick look on Wikipedia gives this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncopation wrote:

In music, syncopation is a stress on a normally unstressed beat, or a missing beat where a stressed one would normally be expected. Syncopation is used in many musical styles, including classical music, but it is fundamental in such styles as reggae, ragtime, rap, jump blues, jazz and often in dubstep and progressive metal. In the form of a back beat, syncopation is used in virtually all contemporary popular music.

The back beat is what you are describing, I think:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_beat wrote:

The up and down refer to movements of the conductor's baton. The effect can be easily simulated by repeatedly counting to four while alternating strong and weak beats:

* 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 -- the stress is on the "expected" beat

* 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 -- the stress is on the "unexpected" or syncopated beat

Where bold denotes a stressed beat and italic unstressed.

I'd always have associated syncopation with the boom CHA! boom CHA! rhythm of ska and reggae but I guess your description fits the bill.

Jay P

Any chance of an example?

Jay P

Wait no never mind, I got something:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfih_Tdfhgc