syncopate Hear it!

syncopate Definition

syn·co·pate (siŋ′kə pāt′, sin′-)

transitive verb -·pat′ed, -·pat′·ing

  1. to shorten (a word) by syncope
  2. Music
    1. to shift (the regular accent) as by beginning a tone on an unaccented beat and continuing it through the next accented beat, or on the last half of a beat and continuing it through the first half of the following beat
    2. to use such shifted accents in (a musical composition, passage, rhythmic pattern, etc.)

Etymology: < ML syncopatus, pp. of syncopare, to cut short < LL, to swoon < syncope: see syncope

syncopate Related Forms
syn′·co·pa′·tor noun
syncopate Synonyms

syncopate

v.

shorten, slide, contract, shift the beat; see decrease 2.

syncopate Usage Examples

Object

  • rhythm: Here were pages of syncopated rhythms the like of which I hadn't played for quite some time.
  • beat: An expansive, rumbling bassline follows ghostly synths over a wildly syncopated beat.
  • riff: THIS FIRE, meanwhile is guitars all the way as a syncopated riff propels its way over pulsating bass lines and pounding drums beats.
  • pattern: Ann Saunderson's infectious vocals float perfectly over the simple, yet brilliantly effective syncopated hi-hat pattern and tough kicks.
  • music: However many people considered almost any lively, syncopated popular music to be jazz.
  • chord: The instrument sounds weave a color texture with runs, arpeggios and syncopated chords.

Modifying Another Word

  • highly: To experience this check out the highly syncopated Gordon Duncan composition ' Pressed For Time ' .
  • very: It appears in a very syncopated form in bars 36 to 40.