How to Read Music Lesson 4 – Dotted Notes and Rests
In the previous lesson we discussed tied notes. Tied notes are a way for us to add notes together, allowing us to extend the sound of notes. In this lesson we will learn about another method of extending notes by using dot notation.
We use dot notation to extend the length of notes.
When we want to extend the length of a note, we can place a “dot” after the note to extend it. The dot increases the length of the note by one-half. This means that if you place a dot after a half note which gets two beats, then the dot adds 1 beat to the note so that a dotted half note gets 3 beats.
Fast Tube by Casper
In the first measure of the above example we have a half note tied to a quarter note. This combination gets 3 beats. In the second measure we have a dotted half note, which also gets 3 beats. In the last two measures I tied a whole note and a dotted half note which means that the sound is held for 7 beats.
Fast Tube by Casper
Dots also extend the length of rests. In 4/4 time a quarter note gets 1 beat and a quarter rest means 1 beat of silence. Putting a dot after a quarter note extends the note to 1 and 1/2 beats. Play the video above and contrast measure 2 with measure 1. Note how the notes in measure 2 sound a little longer than in the first measure. Putting a dot after a quarter rest extends the rest to 1 and 1/2 beats. In the above example we see dotted quarter notes in the second measure. These notes get 1 and 1/2 beats each. In the fourth measure we have a dotted quarter rest at the beginning of the measure.
Fast Tube by Casper
The final example shows a dotted half note in the second measure as well as dotted half rests in measures 3 and 4. In 4/4 time half rests and half notes get 2 beats, but the dot adds 1 beat so that the dotted half note gets 3 beats and the dotted half rests get 3 beats.
Finally, you may see notes or rests followed by two dots. In these cases the second dot adds half the value of the first dot, so if you have a half note followed by two dots, you would add 2 beats for the half note, plus 1 beat for the first dot, plus 1/2 beat for the second dot.
In this lesson you have learned how to extend the value of notes and rests by using dots. A dot extends the length of the note or rest by 1/2.
- Yossele Rosenblatt: The Cantor With The Heavenly VoiceHe was said to have sang while still in the crib and toured Eastern Europe synagogues before he was 10. And that was just the beginning. By the 1920s, Rosenblatt transcended the boundaries of Jewish sacred music to become an international sensation. […]
- First Listen: Steve Reich, 'Double Sextet, 2x5'The composer's innovations have been distilled and polished to a new, compelling sheen in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Double Sextet and the new, rock-inflected 2x5. Hear both works here until they're released on Sept. 14. […]
- Opera Noir: Alban Berg's 'Wozzeck'As he struggles with jealousy and poverty in this powerful tragedy, the psychologically disturbed title character endures ridicule from his superiors and undergoes bizarre medical experiments. […]
- First Listen: 'Cantique,' With The Music Of Arvo PartThe Estonian composer's evocative music has opened a window into a world of spiritual ideals and aspirations, and attracted many fans along the way. Hear Cantique, the new CD of Pärt's music, in its entirety. […]
- Photo: Paolo FresuA Blog Supreme is on vacation. Until we return, we are periodically leaving you with some shots from The NPR Jazz Photography Pool on Flickr. Here, Vicenzo Cosenza writes about capturing the great Italian trumpeter on film recently. […]
- First Listen: The Bad Plus, 'Never Stop'It may be one of the leading names in jazz, but The Bad Plus probably wouldn't mind if you called it a weirdo instrumental rock band. Hear the decade-old trio's latest album, the all-original Never Stop, in its entirety until its release on Sept. 14. […]
- Six Decades Of Jazz With Nat HentoffHentoff was 11 years old, strolling along a Boston street, when he first heard jazz clarinetist Artie Shaw's famous composition "Nightmare" and was hooked. He has spent roughly six decades covering the world of jazz, and he's collected his thoughts and memories in a new book, At the Jazz Band Ball: Sixty Years on the Jazz Scene. […]