Syncopation And Swing In The North Indian Classical Music

3. Define the following terms:

Syncopation

Swing

Both syncopation and swing are two terms and actions that musicians take to enhance the music they produce. Firstly, syncopation is the accenting of “offbeats” within a measure. All around the world, musicians are able to captivate their audiences through the occasional emphasis of unstressed beats excluding the first beat in each measure. These affected area may include the notes between pulses, and the middle beats in a measure, for example, the second and fourth beat in 4/4 time. Many varieties of placements of both strong beats and accents are taken in the performances of musicians to increase rhythmic interest. On the other hand is another form of off-beat emphasis-- “swing.” In general terms, “swing” is the “combination of two things: rhythmic interpretation and rhythmic unity.” Swing allows a once straight and repetitive pattern to loosen up, curve, and “dance.” When a musician uses swing in his or her work, he or she makes the notes and beats somewhat uneven, giving feel and voice into his or her music. Jazz is one genre in which musicians very often use both syncopation and swing to animate their performances, all the

There are many hundreds or ragas used by Indian players. But every raga follows a specific set of guideline and characteristics. The scale of a raga includes five, six, or seven notes, an ascending and descending pattern, a note hierarchy, and a set of prescribed motifs. In addition to the musical technicalities of a raga are the humanly attributes. A raga has a time and season of performance, a set mood, and legendary “magical” properties. In this fashion, ragas are not performances. In actuality, ragas, like maqam, provide raw material for many performances, both improvised and composed. Ragas have its own musical personality. Even more so, one could compare a raga to that of a