The word syncopated means the emphasizing of beats that are normally not the strong or accented beats in the rhythm you're playing. This is accomplished by accenting these weak beats.

For example, in 4/4 time where each measure has four beats, a simple rhythm would emphasize the first beat in each measure, like this:

1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4

Or it might emphasize all four beats equally. By contrast, a syncopated rhythm might accent the second and fourth beat of each measure, as is common in rock, blues, and country music, like this:

1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4

Another way to create syncopation is to add accents that fall between the beats of the measures, such as by accenting the first and fourth beats of each measure and then adding another accent on the half-beat (also known as the “and of the beat” because of the way it's counted) between the fourth and first beats, like this:

1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and 1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and

Syncopated rhythms add tension and energy to music, making it sound spicier and more exotic when that is what's called for. You normally wouldn't want to add syncopation to a song with a simple rhythm such as “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” a song that emphasizes all four beats of the measure equally, but if you were to experiment by adding the syncopated beat above with the 4-and-1 accents you would find that the syncopated beat adds energy and drive to the song that wasn't there before, and makes the song sound very different.

The following examples illustrate the difference between simple rhythms and syncopated rhythms. The first example is a simple rhythm and the second is a syncopated rhythm.

FIGURE 6-3A: Simple rhythms

TRACK 23

FIGURE 6-3B: Syncopated rhythms

TRACK 23