Syncopation

1
Syncopation
The way of all signs, that is, of triadicity
2
A noun form of syncopation has 3 meanings 1
(phonology) the loss of sounds in the interior of
a word (as in fo'c'sle' for forecastle'), 2 a
musical rhythm accenting a normally weak
beat. 3 music (especially dance music) that has
a syncopated rhythm.
3
Syncopation in music, the accentuation of a
beat that normally would be weak according to the
rhythmic division of the measure. Although the
normally strong beat is not usually effaced by
the process, there are occasions when the natural
rhythmic structure is entirely altered, the
syncopation being so elaborate and persistent
that the actual metrical structure is obliterated
aurally. Occasional syncopation is present in
music of all types and in all periods. It
predominates, however, in African music and
therefore in African-American music through which
it became the principal element in ragtime.
4
When did syncopations first start? Some people
may think that syncopations began when jazz first
evolved in the US. Traditional dance music before
1910 didn't have many syncopations. In his book
The Creation of Jazz, Burton Pertetti points out
that 1910 recordings of Dixieland music reveal a
syncopated version of traditional "two step"
dance music.
5
Leonard Bernstein, the famous composer and
orchestral conductor used to be fond of pointing
out that you can take traditional sounding music
and give it a jazz flavor by adding syncopations.
But Beethoven also used syncopations in his music
more than a 100 years earlier than the early
American jazz musicians. And you can find a good
example of syncopation in the A minor Two Part
Invention by J.S. Bach.
6
Most books on Western music history trace first
use of syncopation back to a time period referred
to as Ars Nova (The New Art) in the 14th century!
The difference, though, is that these early
musicians used syncopations sparingly for special
effects, whereas jazz musicians incorporate
syncopation as a basic stylistic element in their
music.