Editing Syncopation (section)

===Off-beat syncopation===
The stress can shift by less than a whole beat, so it occurs on an [[Offbeat (music)|offbeat]], as in the following example, where the stress in the first bar is shifted back by an [[eighth note]] (or quaver):

{{Block indent|<score sound="1" override_midi="Syncopation example.mid">
{ \relative c' { \time 4/4 d8 a'4 c8~ c e4 gis,8 a1 } }
</score>}}

Note how in the sound bite, the piano's notes do not happen at the same time as the drum beat that simply keeps a regular rhythm. In contrast, a standard-rhythm piece would have the notes occur ''on'' the beat:

{{Block indent|<score sound="1" override_midi="Unsyncopated off beat example.mid">
{ \relative c' { \time 4/4 d4 a' c e gis, a2. } }
</score>}}

Playing a note ever so slightly before, or after, a beat is another form of syncopation because this produces an unexpected accent:

{{Block indent|<score sound="1" override_midi="Off-beat example other way.mid">
{ \relative c' { \time 4/4 \partial8 d8 a'4 c e gis,8 a~ a1 } }
</score>}}

It can be helpful to think of a {{music|time|4|4}} rhythm in [[eighth note]]s and count it as "1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and". In general, emphasizing the "and" would be considered the off-beat (syncopated), whereas having the emphasis on the numbers is on-beat.