Syncopation

Syncopation is rhythm that places an accent where the meter does not expect one. The pulse continues underneath, and the tension comes from the gap between the sounded accent and the steady beat. There are two basic forms. In the first, a note attacked on a weak beat is tied across a strong one, so the strong beat is silent. In the second, short notes strike the offbeats while the beats stay empty. Take a bar of 4/4 with a chord on beat two held through beat three. The expected accent on beat three never sounds, yet the listener still feels it. Syncopation needs a clear underlying meter. Without a pulse to displace, the accent has nothing to push against, and the rhythm becomes merely irregular.

Related terms

• BackbeatThe accent on beats two and four of a 4/4 bar, the emphasis that gives rock, pop and soul their driving feel.
• HemiolaA temporary regrouping of beats, most often two bars of 3/4 heard as three groups of two rather than two groups of three.
• GrooveA repeated rhythmic pattern, usually syncopated and locked to a shared pulse, that makes a passage feel steady and move the body.
• DownbeatThe first beat of a bar, normally the strongest accent in the meter and the beat marked by the conductor's first downward gesture.

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