Once you've got a handle on the simple straight beats (as they're often called) your challenge will be to understand and execute syncopated beats accurately. Modern music utilizes this type of rhythm much more than traditional music. For example, sing "Mary had a little lamb" quietly to yourself while you tap a toe on each beat. You'll see that the melody sticks to the counted beats 1-2-3-4 pretty closely.
So how is syncopated music different? Syncopated music puts accents on notes played between the beats. To demonstrate, count 1-2-3-4 to yourself like we did in chapter 1. Now while you are counting, clap your hands on the "off beats." Off beats is the name we use to describe the moment in time between each beat. You may understand this better by counting "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and". Now clap on the "ands."
These off-beats are the basis around which syncopated music is built.
I'm sorry, you need a plug-in to play MIDI files to play this song example.
Here's an example of a song which uses syncopation. If your computer can play MIDI files, then play this one so we can break it down.
Notice that the song begins with a simple "tick tick tick tick" to establish the beat. After the beat is clear, the melody begins very "straight." The melody is then repeated with a more syncopated version. Here's what the music would look like for this song.