There are two basic rhythms:
Symmetric rhythms arise when you divide a period of time by 2. 12121212. This is a basically dualistic rhythm and, if used as such, can serve as an excellent machine of tension/release. As an example, observe how the basic "KhKhKhKh" rhythm of house music is tension and release on a micro scale (K=kick h=hihat). If you have only the kick, you get a plodding kind of rhythm, but when you add in the hihat on the upbeat, you're head starts bobbing and your feet start moving.*
The basic pattern - the "1" is dominant and holds the rhythm together. It is the ground center. The "2" is the "other" and all it represents in relation to the "1". So the tendency of the "2" is to inevitably pull back to the "1". "2>1" equals tension>release.
Asymmetric rhythms arise when you divide time by 3. 123123123123. With this rhythmic mode there is no clean dualism going on as there are in symmetric rhythms. The "1" is still dominant, but the "upbeat" can be either the 2 or 3, and often the 2 and 3 function together as the "upbeat". In this rhythmic mode there is, in fact, a duality present within the upbeat - between 2 and 3. Interestingly, a "swung" symmetric rhythm is one in which the upbeat leans more to one side of the asymmetric mode.
Syncopation arises when you juxtapose a symmetric pattern against an asymmetric pattern, and introduce a pattern of tension/release. Let's break this down...
Here's what happens when you juxtapose a symmetric pattern against an asymmetric pattern (this is called hemiola in Western classical terms)...
121212121212...
123123123123...
By analyzing this you will see that there is no resolution to the pattern. The "1" of both patterns never line up in terms that both can agree on. They line up every 3 cycles for the symmetric rhythm, and every 2 cycles for the asymmetric rhythm. So the 2 would have to resolve on the 3's terms, and the 3 would have to resolve on the 2's terms. So the pattern keeps revolving around itself forever. Hearing these two rhythms juxtaposed causes tension in our brain/psyche because it is trying to hold two things at once on independant terms without compromising either, but this is very difficult without training. You can experience this by playing 2 against 3, and try to hear each on it's own terms simultaneously. It's even more fun to try to play one in each hand. A further aspect of this pattern is that the "1" of the asymmetric pattern is alternating between the downbeat and upbeat of the symmetric pattern.
So this pattern sets up a system of creating tension that can then be resolved to great effect. The resolution happens when one rhythm "compromises" and is truncated for the sake of resolving on the other's terms**. For example...
12121212|12121212
12312312|12312312
It turns out this pattern of syncopation, 3+3+2, is very very common in all forms of dance music. It is a dominant rhythm in hiphop, breaks, and dnb; it is often a sub-rhythm in house, techno, trance, and disco - eg, basslines, percussion patterns. It shows up in rock all over the place, as well. It also shows up in many permutations - 2+3+3, 3+2+3. Once you begin to listen for the 332, you will hear it everywhere.
The basic pattern going on here that makes this such a popular rhythm is the juxtaposition of symmetric against asymmetric for tension, and the releasing of the tension through truncation of the symmetric rhythm. This is further enhanced when the "1" of the asymmetric pattern hits on the upbeat of the symmetric pattern, thus accenting the duality within the dominant rhythm.
By layering several of these rhythms, with careful attention paid to the patterns of tension>release, one can achieve the desired effect known as funk.
Nah, funk has to come from the heart and body, as well as the mind!
Well, that's all I got right now. Let me know what you think. Hopefully this discussion will open some doors...
-ethios4
* This dualism also manifests culturally. As an example, Western European classical music is heavily downbeat centered. Folk music from certain cultures, perhaps most notably from West African cultures, has much more emphasis on the upbeat. As these cultures combined in the form of rock-n-roll, music began to have much more emphasis on the "backbeat" because of it's rousing dance energy, meanwhile being denigrated in more elite cultures as being dirty, vulgar, suggestive, carnal music. This was also happening at a time in America when white and black cultures were becoming more and more integrated. Interesting...
**Seeing dance rhythm in this way inevitably leads me to contemplate syncopation as a metaphor for conflict resolution, and in fact the union of opposites within the realm of dualistic existence - political, marital, spiritual.
