verb

syncopate

SING-kuh-payt/sˈɪŋkʌpˌeɪt/

Shift musical accents away from the regular beat.

The drummer syncopates the rhythm by stressing the offbeat notes.

Black drummer emphasizes an offbeat shown by sparse accurate beat marks.

Etymology

synGreektogether; perhaps thoroughly

+copGreekto cut

+ateEnglishverb-forming ending

The cutting root, with syn- perhaps meaning “thoroughly,” underlies the idea of cutting short. Earlier used for shortening words by omitting middle sounds, the verb acquired a musical sense of shifting accents away from their regular positions.

In context

Drum History Podcast7:38

you can play like straight through with your hi-hat hand or you can kind of syncopate and match with your hand with matching with your bass drum foot

A Look at the Punk D-Beat with Spike T. Smith - Drum History Podcast

More examples

Try to syncopate the melody without changing its pitches.
She syncopated the bass line while the drummer kept a steady beat.
Syncopating the accompaniment gives this familiar tune a different feel.

Forms

syncopate · syncopates · syncopated · syncopating

syncopation noun — Rhythm that emphasizes normally unaccented beats.

Similar words

displace: Displace means moving accents, not necessarily onto normally weak beats.