Lesson 2
Rhythm
Notation

Practice Drills
rhythm
PDF Drills L2

Assignments
WA 2

Creative
Project

 

 

prefacecomponentsstudyHints Go to Finale tutor
Go to "note-ables"

6

Dots, ties, and fermatas

Dots, ties and fermatas are all symbols that are used to lengthen a note's normal value.



Dots

A dot placed after a note lengthens its duration by one half.

 

dotted notes

 

In the third measure above, the dot and final eighth note together form the fourth beat of the measure.

A double dot after a note increases the length by one half the value of the preceding dot (or three fourths of the note's original value).

double dotted notes

Slur versus tie

Both of these terms (slur and tie) refer to curved lines in the music that connect noteheads, yet they signify very different things.  The difference in them is that a tie connects noteheads on the same pitch, whereas a slur connects noteheads on different pitches.  The tie is used to create one longer duration of a pitch (adding the values of the notes tied together).  Ties are frequently used to denote a note value that is not otherwise available--a half note tied to an eighth note, for example.  The slur on the other hand means that the notes are to be played in a smooth, connected manner (legato).

On the other hand, notice how various tied rhythms can be rewritten using beams and dotted rhythms:

A word needs to be said about correct notation of rhythm.  In most cases, notes with values of an eighth note or smaller will be beamed together if they are part of the same beat.  The following example is a rhythm written without the use of beams.  Notice how difficult it would be to clap or count.

rhythm using flagged notes only

Now take a look at the same rhythm rewritten to beam groups of notes whenever possible into beats (quarter-note beats):

rhythm using beams to group beats where possible

 

Beat 1

A quarter note (or any other longer note value) does not have a flag, therefore cannot be beamed to another note.
Beat 2 These two eighth notes form the second beat of the measure, therefore are beamed together.
Beat 3 These four sixteenth notes form the first beat of the second measure, therefore are beamed together.
Beat 4 Notice how a combination of different note values can be beamed together as long as they are all part of the same beat.
Beat 5 Notice the partial beams used in order to beam these notes together.
Beat 6 Even though this note has a flag, there are no other notes in the same beat with which to connect it.  This eighth note is not connected to the previous notes because they are not part of the same beat.
Beat 7 Even though these two sixteenth notes do not make up an entire beat (only half a beat), they are still beamed together because they are part of the same beat.
Beat 8 This is another example of different note values beamed together.  Notice that the partial beam is on the same side of the note stem as the full beam.
Beat 9 Notes that do not have flags (quarter notes or longer) cannot be beamed with any other note(s).

Fermata

A fermata placed over a note indicates that the note is to be held longer than its actual value.

 

top of page