Syncopation

Time & Groove

Also called syncopated rhythm, off-beat accents.

Syncopation is a note landing where you did not expect it. The strong beats, 1 and 3 in 4/4, get skipped or quieted while the accents move to the "&"s and the weak beats. The groove feels like it leans, pulls, or stumbles forward in a good way.

Try this: play a plain eighth-note groove and move your snare accents from 2 and 4 to the "&" just before them. Same notes, brand-new feel. That is syncopation. Funk made a career out of it, and the Bo Diddley beat is syncopation spelled out in one bar.

The danger is losing the pulse. Syncopation only works against a steady beat underneath it. Your foot keeps 1-2-3-4 while your hands play against it. If nobody in the room can dance to your syncopation, you dropped the anchor somewhere.

Tip: learn the plain version first. Strip the pattern to its strong beats on the hi-hat until the bar is boring. Then add the displaced accents back one at a time. Knowing exactly where the beat is gives you permission to play against it.