- Hi, I'm Gareth and in this video
we're going to consider how to write syncopated rhythms.
So first of all, what do I mean by a syncopated rhythm?
Well, quite often, rhythm goes on beats, doesn't it?
Like this little example I've got on the board.
You can hear that's beat one, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four, and so on.
So those are notes and chords that are happening
on the beats, but if I get things happening
in between the beats,
then this generates a little syncopation.
So if I take the same thing and play this.
Can you hear that?
(singing rhythm) on the top is a syncopated rhythm
because I've got notes coming between the beats.
(singing rhythm)
And this gives rhythm a real character of its own.
Now you might not want to use this
in every particular musical style, but it's amazing
how many different musical styles do use it.
So, for example, have a look at this score
of Scott Joplin's piece The Entertainer.
It's a very famous piece, that's why I've chosen it
because probably most people will have heard of it.
Well, if you look at the first bar, or the first measure.
Scott Joplin could've written this.
And then he could've carried on.
And there wouldn't have been any syncopation in sight.
But do you notice what he does?
In the first bar, the first measure,
when you come to the third note, he ties it
into the fourth note, so we get this note
that starts in the last quarter of the first beat,
ties over into the second beat,
and the next note comes in the second quarter
of the second beat.
So, by kind of jarring the position of that,
it creates a syncopation.
One, and, two, and,
one, and, two, and.
So, you see, nothing's happening on beat two
because of that tied note,
but we've got things happening between the beats
and between the half beats.
So you get this syncopation.
Now, when he gets into the main tune
on the second line, can you see
what's happening in the right hand?
You're getting one, and, two, and, one, and two.
So there's syncopation happening there.
The left hand is just going on the beats
and the half beats.
One, and, two, and, one, and, two, and.
So that's kind maintaining the beats and the half beats.
The right hand is getting these rhythms positioned
in between beats, in between half beats,
and you see what's happening.
One, and, two, and, one, and, two, and,
one, and, two, and, one, and, two.
So you see how the syncopations
actually are the things that give
The Entertainer its real character.
So, ragtime music is written
with this syncopated style absolutely central to it.
So it's a great example of syncopation.
And you can see actually,
how it makes the music much more interesting
than if you didn't have the syncopation.
If he'd written,
it wouldn't have been as interesting, would it?
So the syncopation really gives it extra character.
So, is this just something that we do in more modern music?
Maybe 20th century music,
this sort of jazz stuff, lighthearted stuff?
Well, absolutely not, because it's existed
for a very long time.
So, have a look at this example
which is from Bach's second partita.
And when we look into this andante section
after the opening, you'll find
there's syncopation all over the place.
So, if you have a look at bar 10, measure 10,
can you hear, you've got this same
sort of Scott Joplin thing going on
with the syncopation in the right hand?
But now we're talking about Bach.
So you see, lots of syncopation going on there.
So, we've got notes that are tied,
that are going on between the beats and the half beats
in exactly the same way that we heard in the Scott Joplin.
And it's not just an occasional thing.
Because, if you look from that bar 10 there,
and we go on from there,
you'll find syncopation appearing quite a lot.
So I'll start again in bar 10.
Syncopation, and again.
Little bit of something there.
And again.
Bit of something here.
And again.
And so it goes on, so you see,
actually in that particular section,
there's quite a lot of syncopation.
Here's a piece written by a composer
from the Baroque period.
So, it's not particular to one style,
although it's commonly claimed that it is,
it's been around forever, and it's amazing
how it gives the rhythm a vitality.
So it wouldn't be something to write in every style,
but it works really well
if you want to give your rhythm a bit of life.
Let's now go back to what we've got on the board
because we really want to think about,
well, if you wanted to write syncopated rhythm,
how would you actually do that?
So, here's four bars of something
that I've written, and it sounds like this.
Well, it's okay, isn't it, but it's a bit dull, you know?
It's not the most exciting piece of music I've heard.
But, by doing a little bit of syncopation,
you'll be amazed what we could do.
So, for example, we've just got to keep the harmony,
but in the melody, how about if we do something like this?
I'm going to put a bit of syncopation in.
So I'm keeping the same melody,
and then, in the next bar I could do something very similar.
So, do you see?
So we've got the G, F, E-flat,
but now it goes, G, G, F, E-flat.
And then what was, F, E-flat, D,
now becomes, F, F, E-flat, D.
Do you see, there's suddenly a real bounce
about the rhythm, isn't there?
Well, we could do the same with this little bass thing
in the next bar, couldn't we?
And then maybe we could go back
and do it in the top part in the last bar.
So, I'm assuming that we can keep
the rest of the harmony in place
and there's nothing wrong with that.
So, just to be crystal clear about
how that might look.
That we could keep all these notes going.
What you might do, you might make little modifications
once you've got the rhythm going,
is even something like this,
just keeping a bit of movement in the bass part there.
So it's not just stationary.
Because the original first bar, or first measure, was this.
Well actually, stopping dead there
sort of fits with the slightly dull situation.
If I've got a bit of syncopation there,
I don't particularly want to do this.
And sort of stop dead.
I could do, but just by having an octave leap in the bass,
Do you see, it just keeps things
moving along a bit, doesn't it?
So, you could do the same thing in the next bar,
like have an octave leap in the bass there.
And, you could, for example, in the last bar as well
if you wanted to, have a little bit of a leap
in the bass there.
But, basically you can keep everything else the same.
Okay, what does this sound like, then?
So, the original thing sounds like this.
I often find that students I teach
write things like that,
where the harmony works perfectly well,
and they've managed to do that
without breaking any rules of harmony,
it all sounds nice,
and then they just say to me,
"But it's a bit dull."
And I quite often say to people
who can write decent harmony and decent melodic lines,
have you thought enough about the rhythmic construction?
About the rhythmic character?
Because sometimes, doing something with the rhythm,
it doesn't have to be syncopated,
but doing something with the rhythm makes a huge difference.
So that opening.
If I did this, say.
Do you see, suddenly, even that
brings the rhythm to life, doesn't it?
Rather than just going chord, chord, chord.
But have a listen to the syncopation,
see what you think.
Do you see?
That's got a completely different rhythmic life of its own.
So, the original dull scheme suddenly becomes
something with much more musical character and energy.
And you think, "Ooh, actually I could be quite pleased
"with that as a little piece of music."
So, thinking about rhythmic character
when we write, lots of people focus on melody,
lots of people then focus on chords, or the other way round,
but maybe don't think enough about the rhythm.
But using syncopation can be a really good way
just to inject that energy and vitality into the music.
So, have a bit of fun with syncopation.