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

 

Fermata

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