Jamie: (studens)
avoiding the "square" aspect doesn't require the insertion of syncopation.
but a harmonic plan can be "too square" as well.
As I said, music that returns to a tonic at too-predictable intervals is by its very nature "square".
If every phrase ends on the same harmony as the phrase started, the effect is "square".
The harmony at the end of a section of rhythmically straightforward music doesn't HAVE to create the "square" effect... there can be a harmonic suspension into the next phrase, there can be an avoided cadence, there can be a very sudden and surprising modulation BEFORE the next phrase starts.
The idea is to make judicious use of "dramatic gestures", and to carefully gauge when they should or should NOT land right on a strong beat.
Squareness makes the music predictable.
Successful music leads the audience on, letting think they can predict, and surprising them when they least expect it.
Think of successful music like a horror movie. A good horror movie will keep you on the edge of your seat, waiting to see what might happen next. A successful horror film doesn't telegraph its "scares" too far in advance. It teases, it prepares, it avoids, it dangles the possibility in front of the audience, keeps them enthralled, then lulls them into a momentary calmness before *BANG*, surprise!
In my opinion, the classic sci-fi/horror film "Alien" is the perfect example of how to structure a work of art. The transitions, the lead-up to drama, the build and release of tension, and the drive to climax, are perfectly balanced. There is nothing "square" about how the film is put together.