Syncopation and Anticipation (Sync and Antic) - a series within the overall Musicarta 'Beat and Rhythm Cookbook' - presents an opportunity to hone your rhythmic skills on a simple series of paired notes.

Sync & Antic - Module Two

Let's recap the final Video One performance.  

Now listen to these two ways of playing the shorter 'eighth notes'/quavers. 

Errata: This(above)  the correct MS - the example on
the video changes twice as fast as it should.

The first way - how we’ve been playing so far - is called 'even' or 'straight' quavers. The other way is called 'swing quavers' or 'swing' or 'shuffle' feel.

Listen to and play along with the next video to 'get the feel' of the difference.

You end up playing the riff with swing quavers all the way through.

Next, we get our first taste of anticipation, which, in music, means playing notes before they're expected. Here's our riff, in swing quavers, with one 'anticipated' note - the last one in the right hand. Just a demonstration - just watch and listen.

Here's a version, once without the anticipation, once with, again without, and again with. Listen closely, and follow the 'count'.

The anticipated note is circled in red.

Here's the new, anticipated note in close-up.

So here's the riff with those four anticipated notes at the ends of the phrases.

Next, we add another anticipated right hand note in the middle of the first bar ("half way through the first half").

That will give us this performance.

Now anticipate the one remaining note.

Look more closely, to really understand what it is that we play. Spell out the 'together-left-right' (TLR) analysis, using the graphic on-screen.

And the riff with 'a breather' between the phrases- good practice at following the 'four in'.

And the finished module riff.

Now go on to Page 3 of this series.