Printable worksheet
Syncopation worksheet
Free printable syncopation worksheet: decide if a bar is syncopated, count the syncopated notes and name where each begins. Simple and compound.
Syncopation worksheet
Sheet #
Name Date Score /
Answer key
Syncopation worksheet · Sheet #
How to use it
- Choose a difficulty and a task, then press New worksheet.
- Mark the strong positions in the bar: the first beat, the middle of a four-beat bar, then the other beats, then the off-beats.
- A note is syncopated if it starts on a weaker position and is held through a stronger one. Rests never count.
- Show answers to see the syncopated notes marked with a star, or print the answer page.
Syncopation moves the stress away from where the metre expects it. This worksheet gives you a precise test so that every question has one right answer.
The test#
Rank the positions in a bar from strong to weak: the start of the bar, the middle of a four-beat bar, the other beats, then the off-beats (the “&” positions) and finer subdivisions. A sounding note is syncopated if it starts on a weaker position than some position it is still held through. For example, a quarter note on the “&” of 1 in 4/4 is held through beat 2, so it is syncopated. A note that begins on a beat and stays within the beat is not.
The three tasks#
- Is the bar syncopated? (easy) One bar; answer yes or no.
- How many syncopated notes? (medium) Two bars; count them.
- Where does each one begin? (hard) Two bars; name each as, for example, “bar 1, the & of beat 2”. The key marks syncopated notes with a star under the counting.
Counting positions#
Simple time is counted 1 e & a, and compound time 1 & a. Rests are shown in brackets and are never syncopated, because nothing is sounded.
The yes/no sheets mix “yes” and “no” answers, so a pupil cannot just guess one of them. Compound questions use figures such as an eighth note, a dotted quarter and a quarter in 6/8, and simple time includes the pattern quarter, half, quarter in 4/4.