Music is all about tension and release no matter if this is done rhythmically or melodically. The listener will have an expectation on what happens next within a piece of music or rhythm, when you break that expectation it creates tension, making the music more interesting and unique. The listener will eagerly await for the music, or rhythm, to get back to what’s expected, the release, the resolution. In rhythm this tension and release is achieved with Syncopation.
This is a video/audio demonstration using syncopation techniques from this article
What is Syncopation?
The word Syncopation is used to express a rhythm which accents on weaker beats, or divisions of beats, to cause a disruption in rhythmical flow. It creates variation, character or expression in music which is closely associated with groove.
Syncopation in some form is used in nearly all music styles, without it music would be predictable to the point of being uninteresting, unemotional and robotic. The levels of syncopation change from one track to another, but musical genres heavily reliant on multiple forms of syncopation include Jazz, Funk, Hip Hop, Rock, Progressive music and electronic dance music. Within these genres you will typically find syncopation on multiple levels.
Although we are discussing rhythms, this doesn’t mean syncopation only applies to drums. You’ll find syncopation in melody lines, guitar solos, Vocals, funky bass lines and 303 acid lines to name a few.
levels of syncopation
No matter which level of syncopation is being used, the theory, concept and goal is the same, to disrupt the rhythmical flow. The two type of syncopation I'll describe is Beat syncopation and Division syncopation.
Beat Syncopation
The pulse or the downbeat, backbeat and offbeat is the foundation to most rhythms. On a sequencer grid, the pulse, downbeat and backbeat is found on the quarter notes with the offbeat played on the 8th notes. Beat Syncopation is an unexpected variation of the main pulse, downbeat, backbeat or the offbeat.
A great way to describe beat syncopation, is by counting a beats, 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. The pulse number (1,2,3,4) would normally be referred to as a downbeat, the ”and” would be referred to as an upbeat. If this is a steady rhythm the listener would expect this continuous flow, any variation of the pulse and up beat would be described as beat syncopation.
Please note, the image below has no syncopation but highlights the names of each beat.
Division Syncopation
Division Syncopation describes syncopation that can be heard outside of the 8th note beat, for example accenting a percussive hit on a 16th note which isn’t shared with the pulse or upbeat would disrupt the main groove.
Forms of syncopation can be used at beat level and at sub division level depending on the style of music being created. Beat level refers to syncopation happening with the 8th note grid where you find the main pulse of the rhythm, division syncopation can be heard outside of 8th note beats, eg on 16th, 32nd notes
How to use Syncopation
As we’ve discussed, anything that disrupts the rhythmical flow would be considered a syncopated rhythm, so applying an accent to anything outside of the 8th quantize grid would be a simple approach to applying division syncopation. However, syncopation can be more varied, it can be as minimal or as dense as you like. I have highlighted some examples on how to apply different types of syncopation to your tracks;
Beat Syncopation Examples
Examples of Syncopation within the main beats of the bar, being the down beat, backbeat and upbeat.
Missed Beat Syncopation
A minimal approach to disrupting the groove is by adding variation in a repeating rhythm, a simple way to achieve this is by missing a beat, for example playing 1, 2, 3, 4 repeatedly but with a seldom variation of X, 2, 3, 4 or 1, 2, X, 4 would be an example of a missed beat syncopation. The listener is expecting a strong accent on every beat but the syncopated variation disrupts the expectation or rhythmical flow.
Suspended Syncopation
Backbeat Syncopation
Division Syncopation Examples
Oscar from underdog does a great job at describing syncopation by demonstrating how syncopation makes you head bop in a different way compared with a non-syncopated rhythm. The focus here is on EDM, House and Techno music, and as we've already covered beat syncopation, most of this demonstration focuses on division syncopation.
Check out Oscar’s video here
For More Information on tension and release check out our functional harmony and cadences tutorials