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The problem it solves
You need notes that last longer than a single figure allows, or that cross a beat or a bar line: the dot and the tie make that possible.
Detailed theory
Key idea
The dot adds half the figure's value: a dotted quarter lasts 1.5 beats.
The tie sums two durations of the same note into a single sustained sound.
Understand it
The dot is a small dot to the right of the note head. It lengthens the figure by adding half its value: a quarter note (1 beat) with a dot lasts a beat and a half; a half note (2 beats) with a dot, three.
The tie is an arc joining two notes of the same pitch: they're played as a single note lasting the sum of the two. It's used to lengthen a sound beyond one figure or to carry it across the bar line.
Both create durations a single figure can't express and give more flowing rhythms: notes that stretch, that sustain, or that connect one measure to the next.
The dot is like adding 'and a half' to a recipe (a cup and a half); the tie is like taping two pieces of tape into a longer one. In both cases you get a duration you didn't have with a single piece.
Figures and pulse
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A dotted half note lasts three beats (two plus one); here, a dotted half and a quarter complete the measure.
How to recognise it
How it's written
If you see a dot right after the note head, lengthen it by half. If you see an arc between two notes of the same pitch, play them as one, summing their durations.
How it feels
Tap a dotted quarter and an eighth: it'll sound 'looong-short', the most characteristic dotted rhythm. Then tap two tied notes: they sound as a single, longer one.
Common mistake
D-attacking the second note of a tie: only the first sounds, sustained; the second isn't played again.
Confusing the tie (same pitch, sums durations) with a slur, which joins different notes.
Try it
Tap a dotted quarter followed by an eighth and count '1 - 2 and': the dot reaches up to the middle of the second beat.
Tie two quarter notes and hold the sound two full beats without re-tapping the second.
On the instrument
Figures and pulse
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The most typical dotted rhythm: a dotted quarter (a beat and a half) and an eighth (half a beat), followed by two quarters. Listen to the 'looong-short'.
Where it's used
- Lengthening a note
- Getting durations a single figure can't express.
- Crossing the bar line
- Sustaining a sound from one measure into the next with a tie.
Examples
Figures and pulse
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Two tied quarter notes: they're played as a single two-beat note. The second isn't tapped again.
Figures and pulse
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Here the tie joins the second and third quarter notes: the sound holds for two beats in a row, crossing the beat.
Exercises
Read dots and ties — basic
Introduce the dot: the dotted quarter note among quarters and eighths, to feel the half-value lengthening.
Complete 5 attempts · 70% accuracy to pass
Read dots and ties — intermediate
Read and tap the dotted-quarter + eighth figure, with ties.
Complete 8 attempts · 70% accuracy to pass
Read dots and ties — advanced
Combine dots on different figures (dotted quarter, dotted half) with tied eighths and sixteenths.
Complete 10 attempts · 70% accuracy to pass
Mini test
Check that you've got it.
0/6 answeredQuestion 1/6
What does a dot do to a figure?