By using different notes and rests, we can create all sorts of cool patterns in music. But no conversation about duration would be complete without looking at a couple of extra symbols called “dots” and “ties.” These symbols are a little less common in music. But they can be useful when you want to tweak the length of a certain note or rest. It turns out that both dots and ties are simple … so let’s take a look at how each one works.
Dots
In music, “dots” are used to make things sound more interesting. For example, do you remember when we played the song, “Ode to Joy“? Well, you might have noticed that the melody sounded a little strange. And that’s because the last measure of each line was sort of boring. The original version of this song actually has more bounce to it. And that “bounce” comes from the use of dots.
Basically, a dot makes any note (or rest) last for a slightly longer amount of time. So when we place a dot after any note (or rest), we’re simply saying it should last for its regular amount of time … plus another half of its normal duration. Like this:
To see what I mean, check out the following examples:
- A dotted quarter notes lasts for a beat and a half
- A dotted half note lasts for three beats
- A dotted whole note lasts for six beats
- Etc.
Try playing the each of these patterns while counting the beat. And you’ll notice there are still just four beats in each measure. Only now, every dotted note gets a little extra time.
It’s pretty simple, really. And now that we know how dots work, we can go back and play “Ode to Joy” the way Beethoven wanted it to sound. Moving through this song, each dot adds a little more bounce to the melody. In the last measure of each line, we simply hold the dotted quarter notes for an extra half beat (or an eighth note of time). And that makes the song a lot more interesting.
Ties
Just like dots, “ties” are useful, too. In fact, they work a lot like dots. Only, ties let us play longer notes by “tying” notes together. It works like this … when we see a tie between separate notes of the same pitch, we simply play the first note for as long as all the tied notes combined.
For example, check out the following note patterns. Whenever you see a tie symbol, just play the first of the tied notes … and hold that note for all the beats marked by the tie. It’s simple, but this symbol gives us much more flexibility in the melodies we play.
As you go through each of these examples, remember to count the beat. And each pattern will be easy to play. The truth is that dots and ties are pretty basic. But they definitely make music sound more interesting. In fact, once you get a feel for how these extra symbols work, they’re actually fun to play.