syncopation

American  

[sing-kuh-pey-shuhn, sin-] / ˌsɪŋ kəˈpeɪ ʃən, ˌsɪn- /

noun

1. Music. a shifting of the normal accent, usually by stressing the normally unaccented beats.

2. something, as a rhythm or a passage of music, that is syncopated.

3. Also called counterpoint rhythm.  Also called counterpoint.  Prosody. the use of rhetorical stress at variance with the metrical stress of a line of verse, as the stress on and and of in Come praise Colonus' horses and come praise/The wine-dark of the wood's intricacies.

4. Grammar. syncope.

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syncopation British  

/ ˌsɪŋkəˈpeɪʃən /

noun

1. music

   1. the displacement of the usual rhythmic accent away from a strong beat onto a weak beat

   2. a note, beat, rhythm, etc, produced by syncopation

2. another word for syncope

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Other Word Forms

• nonsyncopation
  noun

Etymology

Origin of syncopation

1525–35; < Medieval Latin syncopātiōn- (stem of syncopātiō ), equivalent to Late Latin syncopāt ( us ) ( see syncopate) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

If no one's dancing at the school dance, it might be time to ask the DJ to play some music with more syncopation, or a strong, distinct rhythm that makes you want to move. Jazz is the musical genre best known for syncopation, using rhythm and beats in unexpected ways to make exciting, finger-snapping music. Syncopation has been around for a lot longer than that, though — it pops up in works by Bach and Mozart, for example.

Example Sentences

Bart�k, a precise, percussive pianist, was to play pieces with titles like From the Diary of a Fly, Syncopation, From the Island of Bali, from his Mikrokosmos, which was published last week.*

From Time Magazine Archive

He has also made concert tours, taught singing, had a key spot in Broadway's Cabin in the Sky, floundered through a jive film called Syncopation.

From Time Magazine Archive

Syncopation — Syncopation occurs when a strong note happens either on a weak beat or off the beat.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Figure 1.70: Syncopation is one of the most important elements in ragtime music, as illustrated in this example from Scott Joplin's Peacherine Rag.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Syncopation is one way to liven things up.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones