June 15, 20205 yr So, I'm at the fifth variation of Happy Birthday in my Theme and Variations that I am writing for a string quartet and I decided to make this one syncopated. However, I'm not sure how I should do that. Suspending notes across the bar so that the notes fall an eighth note off the beat is a classic way of syncopating a melody that has been used by Haydn and beyond. But, with the note pattern of the melody, I don't think that will work, because I think that would make it alternate between syncopated and not syncopated with every phrase. I was told by another musician that maybe I should make the measures with the quarter notes syncopated and the other measures not syncopated. But how would I do that? This is how the melody shows in my theme. And here is what results when I try to suspend across the bar at eighth note offset, the classic way of syncopating a melody that has been used by Haydn and beyond: Pretty clear that this isn't syncopated. Most of the quarter notes are still on the beat. I was told to make it so that the quarter notes are syncopated but the other notes aren't, but if suspension across the bar isn't going to work, what is? I'm pretty certain I want a syncopated variation before a minor key variation(which, by the way, would I make the D a Db in the minor key variation since the melody starts on the dominant?).
June 15, 20205 yr 5 hours ago, caters said: Pretty clear that this isn't syncopated. Most of the quarter notes are still on the beat. Are they on the beat? It looks like they're all off beat. It doesn't seem syncopated, however, because the whole melody is offset by a quaver. 5 hours ago, caters said: I was told by another musician that maybe I should make the measures with the quarter notes syncopated and the other measures not syncopated. But how would I do that? See the image below.
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