Triple steps ≠ "syncopation"

[u/JonTigert]

Please dear God can we stop using this phrase wrong.

What you mean to say is that your triple steps are "swung".

Syncopation describes a moment; swung can describe an entire song.

When musicians talk about it, you don't say you have straight eighth notes and then syncopated eighth notes, that would be a nonsense statement. You say they are swung eighth notes.

If you want an example of syncopation, you could look to the song Castle Rock. That accent in the melody at the beginning is it good example of syncopation.

Syncopation does happen a lot in swing music, but it is not present in a step-step triple step basic in either six or eight counts.

[u/lwpisu]

Context feels important here. Within the scope of swing music, no, triples aren’t “syncopated”. But if you’ve never heard swing before and someone is trying to explain what those either are doing, syncopated makes sense as a descriptor.

No, technically swung 8th notes are not syncopated, because it doesn’t deviate from the norm of swing music. But in the greater context of all music, swing is highly syncopated.