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@ 24/08/09 – 10:31:24
(click on the picture to enlarge it)
Rhythm is all around us in speech, in music and visually. When a rhythm is disturbed or interrupted in an unexpected manner, then we have syncopation. Most music does this to some extent but in some genres it is crucial: reggae, funk, jazz, blues, dubstep.
Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones is a well known example. Mick Jagger sings "before the beat", with the resulting syncopation making for a much more interesting listening experience:
Cheers, Tom.
AmethystLady
Pro 
SeasideMan
Pro It really is a fabulous and timeless track. Mick's delivery is almost punky...
isadora101
Love it!!
The ultimate singalong tune.....altogether now ...
"I can't get no satisfaction"
"and I try and I try",
heyheyhey 
SeasideMan
Pro Guaranteed to get a party jumping :-)
epistemological-savagery
interesting point!
also, the picture at the top reminded me of this;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBgf2ZxIDZk
SeasideMan
Pro Oh poo - "that video is not available in your country due to copyright infringements". What was it?
epistemological-savagery
star guitar - chemical brothers
SeasideMan
Pro Awesome track and amazing video. The synchronization of images and sound is just so perfect that the result becomes totally hypnotic.
Great use of light and subject to illustrate the topic Tom. I wonder how syncopation evolved? Is it present in Classical Music or would it have been very much frowned upon there?
I think the Stones got syncopation in a way that gives their earlier music a wonderful dirty sound.
My own favourite Stones track is 'Gimme Shelter' great rough edges and would not be improved a bit by metronomic timing!
SeasideMan
Pro Yes, it is present in much classical music, often in the form of the "wrong" chord on a particular beat of the bar. Haydn did that a lot. As to how it originated, probably the same way that rhythms did themselves, by listening to footsteps, heartbeats, wood chopping and so on. The rhythm gets broken unexpectedly and voila. This business of the early days of music fascinates me.
Gimme Shelter is a fantastic track. It has a great energetic rawness about it and a powerful message as well.
Munzly
..or as you might have heard on the old Steam Radio Goon Show;
Eccles:
'Ere 'Bottle, what's that tune yer playin'?
Bluebottle:
Eccles, My good man, I'm playin' this stinkypated photograph.
Eccles:
Tum tum tiddly tum, Yup, 'Bottle, they dun't writ'em like that any more.
SeasideMan
Pro Ah, fabulous. That took me back, thanks Munzly :-)
catsInVienna
Lovely pic and music!
SeasideMan
Pro Thanks - great band, the Rolling Stones.
I'll take your word for it. More of a Gershwin fan myself.
Love the picture.
SeasideMan
Pro Gershwin is great too - lots of syncopation there!
jollyweez
I have found that Latin-American music can be very cleverly syncopated too, with several rhythms going on at once. So you can dance slow, or fast. Have you ever noticed they use the knees for that 'twitchy-bum' movement? That's the secret. It is all in the kneework! And from the waist upward, they dance sedately!
I learned all about fractals last night. Benoit Mandelbrot, "Hunting the Hidden Dimensions."
I always saw the repeated patterns in nature: our veins, tree branches, leaf veins, e.g.
Music is the language of the Universe. We just talked about that last week, on Hope Child. Music is mathematics to me, such as Bach.
The song above, by Rolling Stones, is very clever.
Thanks for this, Tom.
jollyweez
I think that syncopation came from the Africans. They would have as many as thirty drums going all at once, all with different tones and rhythms.
I would lie there late on Saturday nights, (1960/61), and listen. Miles and miles away in the savanna. You would never find out where they were.
SeasideMan
Pro Hi Charlotte, it makes perfect sense that this originated in Africa as you say. Very good, thanks for that.
I find fractals fascinating.
Tom.
loiswakeman
Hello Tom - long time no see on my part, so gad you are still posting thought-provoking combinations of words, pictures and music. I like the staccato combination of huts and fenceposts - and as for the Stones - what more can I add?
SeasideMan
Pro Hi Lois, nice to see you again.
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Thats my favourite stones track
xx