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Blues Lesson 3 SYNCOPATION Syncopation Shifting the Beginning or End of a Phrase Articulation in Swing style Cheeky Blues Frosty Improvisation Quiz - Quiz Answers Exercises Lesson Material Library - Keyboard Comping

Syncopation is the main rhythmic feature in Jazz, Blues and most Latin style music (Bossa Novas).
The natural accents in a piece in 4/4 time occur on the four downbeats. The strong accents fall on beats 1 and 3, weaker accents occur on beats 2 and 4.

Syncopation either displaces a strong accent from beat 1 or 3 to beat 2 or 4 (Example 2) , or from any downbeat to an offbeat (Examples 3 and 4).

Syncopation is produced by the use of :

1. rests (Example 2),
   
   
2. short notes (Example 3), or
   
   
3. ties (Example 4)

Example 2 is a case of delayed syncopation where the notes occur later than expected. (The accent is expected on beat 1, but occurs on beat 2.)

Examples 3 and 4 are cases of anticipated syncopation where the notes occur earlier than expected. (In Example 4 the accents are expected on beats 3 and 4, but occur on offbeats 2+ and 3+.) The quaver is without a doubt the most important note (and rest) length for producing syncopation in Blues, Jazz and Latin music.

Most melodic phrases start and end on the strongest natural accent, the first beat of a bar. This is natural as it reflects the time signature pulse, but it is also very predictable.

Syncopation, with its objective of rhythmic surprise, shifts melodic phrases away from this predictable pattern.

Syncopation can shift the end of a phrase.
Usually this is from the downbeat of 1 to the offbeat of 4 in the previous bar.
(Or, less frequently, from the downbeat of 3 to the offbeat of 2.)

Audio 3.1

The beginning of a phrase can also be shifted.
For example from the usual downbeat of 1 to 1+, or to 4+ of the previous bar.

Here is a syncopated version of Triad Blues (from Lesson 1).

Audio 3.2

Remember that in swing style offbeat quavers are only 1/3 of a full beat length. This also applies when syncopated. Therefore the tied quavers on the off beats of beat 4 in above two examples are only 1/3 of a beat in length! (And the offbeat quavers followed by a rest in the examples are played staccato, see Bl 3.3.)

When listening carefully you will notice that :

• Syncopations on 2+ and 4+ give the song forward motion.

• Syncopations on 1+ and 3+ tend to hold the melody back.

As previously explained, in swing style :

• downbeat quavers are always played long (2/3 of the beat),

• offbeat quavers are always played short (1/3 of the beat).

When an offbeat quaver occurs at the end of a phrase it is played staccato and is usually also accented.

Melody

I have written the staccato marks here in the music to make the point, but this is not really necessary.
When offbeat quavers are to be played long they are usually tied to the following note. Accents are usually indicated.

The above example is the famous 4-bar blues riff by Duke Ellington.
The same riff is played 3 times to cover one whole 12 bar blues chorus.

Cheeky Blues is a basic blues in C incorporating syncopation.
The melody consists entirely of chord tones.

Melody

Remember that the tied offbeat quavers add only 1/3 of a beat to the combined (tied) note length.
In Cheeky Blues : the G in bar 11. Play-along midi files for the Blues in C are :

• C- instruments use bblc.mid (or any other track in C)
• Bb- instruments use bblbb.mid (or any other track in Bb)
• Eb- instruments use bbleb.mid (or any other track in Eb)

Frosty is a basic blues in F incorporating syncopation.
The melody consists entirely of chord tones.

Melody 2

The staccato offbeat quavers in Frosty are : the F in bar 3, the F in bar 7, and the E in bar 10.

Play-along midi files for the Blues in F are :

• C- instruments use bblf.mid (or any other track in F)
• Bb- instruments use bbeb.mid (or any other track in Eb)
• Eb- instruments use bblab.mid (or any other track in Ab)

1.
Play Cheeky Blues until you can play the melody from memory.

2.
Play chord root tones for the basic blues in C, using a rhythm pattern : 1-8 or 9-16.

Audio 3.3

3.
Improvise with chord-tones only over Cheeky Blues (in C) using rhythm patterns : 1-8 or 9-16.

4.
Improvise over Cheeky Blues using major pentatonic scale-tones only.

C- instruments use :

C major pentatonic scale notes over the C chord

F major pentatonic scale notes over the F chord

G major pentatonic scale notes over the G chord

Bb- instruments use :

D major pentatonic scale notes over the D chord

G major pentatonic scale notes over the G chord

A major pentatonic scale notes over the A chord

Eb- instruments use :

A major pentatonic scale notes over the A chord

D major pentatonic scale notes over the D chord

E major pentatonic scale notes over the E chord

C- instruments use :

F major pentatonic scale notes over the F chord

Bb major pentatonic scale notes over the Bb chord

C major pentatonic scale notes over the C chord

Bb- instruments use :

G major pentatonic scale notes over the G chord

C major pentatonic scale notes over the C chord

D major pentatonic scale notes over the D chord

Eb- instruments use :

D major pentatonic scale notes over the D chord

G major pentatonic scale notes over the G chord

A major pentatonic scale notes over the A chord

Audio 3.4

• Take 1 (9 choruses) - : I play the first 2 bars of each 4-bar phrase, you play the following 2 bars.

• Take 2 (9 choruses) - : You play the first 2 bars of each 4-bar phrase, I play the following 2 bars.

• Take 3 (9 choruses) - : I play the first 4 bars, you play the following 4 bars.

• Take 4 (9 choruses) - : You play the first 4 bars, I play the following 4 bars.

1. What is syncopation ?
   
   
2. Name three different ways by which one can produce syncopation.
   
   
3. When an offbeat quaver is followed by a rest, how is this note always articulated ?
   
   
4. How long is an offbeat quaver when it is followed by another note ?
   
   
5. On which beat does the last note of the (4-bar) musical phrase fall in :
   1. Cheeky Blues
   2. Frosty
   3. C Jam Blues
   
   
6. Write down 7 notes in Circle of 5ths sequence in anti-clockwise direction starting on the note F.
   Then place these seven notes in ascending pitch order starting with C.
   
   
7. Write down 7 notes in Circle of 5ths sequence in anti-clockwise direction starting on the note Eb.
   Then place these seven notes in ascending pitch order starting with Bb.
   
   
8. What can you conclude from the answers to questions 6 and 7 ?
   
   
9. Write down a syncopated version of F Troop Blues.
   
   
10. Write down syncopated versions of Rhythm Patterns 5 - 8.

A.
Practice the major scale in all 12 keys in swing quavers like this :

Demo

B.
When you are comfortable playing scales in swing quavers (as shown in above), practise scales in swing quavers with accents on all offbeat quavers :

Demo

This is quite a difficult skill and needs a lot of practice before you are able to use this in your improvisation.
But it is worth the effort, for it will enable you to put real excitement, energy and drive into your solo.