Syncopation

Hi. In Fundamentals 1, Lisa talks about syncopation as "slanting" the beat. At first, I interpreted this as a slight delay before, say, the second beat. But, in a lesson from Cary, and then going back to the lesson from Lisa, it seems more like a change in emphasis rather than any change in timing. Is that right?

Also, looking more closely, it appears to me that both Lisa and Cary achieve the change in emphasis mostly by hitting fewer strings for less emphasis (on the first beat, for example) and all the strings of a particular chord for more emphasis (on the second beat, for example). Am I seeing and hearing this correctly?

I'd love an answer to this becasue the tutorial is not particularly clear on this point

Originally Posted by: Adamski109

I'd love an answer to this becasue the tutorial is not particularly clear on this point

In the most simple terms, synchopation is placing note emphasis in a place where it might not otherwise be naturally.

Simple example is using a four beat measure with the emphasis on the one:

>> ONE - two - three - four - ONE - two - three - four

Synchopation would place it in a less obvious spot:

>> one - two - THREE - four - one - two - THREE - four

Granted there is more to synchopation but as a starting point, that's the idea. It applies to anything mentioned in the original post from 2018 where the examples are different but the commonality is that the emphasis is not in a natural place.

Originally Posted by: Adamski109

I'd love an answer to this becasue the tutorial is not particularly clear on this point

Sycopation is using a variety of rhythms played or implied at the same time. That's it. It can be done in a virtually endless variety of ways.

I'm assuming you are referring to this lesson.

https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=23542&s_id=1928

In that Fundamental lesson Lisa is referring to a specific type of rhythm is the difference between straight rhythm & swing rhythm.

In straight rhythm, 1/8th notes subdivide each beat in half, into 2 equal halves. The time length between each beat is exactly cut in half & each upbeat 1/8th note is played exactly in between each downbeat.

This results in an equal amount of time between each event: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

In swing rhythm, there are 3 1/8th notes that subdivide the beat in 3 equal parts called triplets. The time length between each beat is exactly cut in thirds. One triplet is played on the downbeat & the other 2 upbeat 1/8th notes are played on each third of the beat.

1 & uh, 2 & uh, 3 & uh, 4 & uh

Now this is indicated on Lisa's notation, but it's kind of tricky how standard notation does this! It's in the upper left corner above the music! I've drawn the rhythmic count below the notation. Remember that the tempo is the same in both! All the downbeat numbers happen at the same rate (1, 2, 3).

So when Lisa says "slant", she means to subdivide each beat in thirds & place the second 1/8th note on the 3rd triplet of each beat. This means that the strum on the 1/8th note upbeat is closer timewise to the next downbeat. The result is that you get a strum on the downbeat, a pause (the rest symbol on the &), and another strum on the "uh".

I explain this in detail in this lesson.

https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=9672&s_id=189

Hope that helps!