Dotted notes and dotted rests – Compound and Asymmetric Time Signatures (Senior 3 Music) | Ganzaa

Compound and Asymmetric Time Signatures

Lessons

Senior 3 · Music

Compound and Asymmetric Time Signatures

4 lessons

Lesson 1 of 4

Dotted notes and dotted rests

20 min

Hap-py: two notes that are not equal

Sing the first two syllables of "Happy Birthday to You". You do not sing Hap and py evenly: Hap is long and py is a quick skip into birth. In S1 you wrote notes as semibreves, minims, crotchets, quavers and semiquavers, and every one of them was half or double its neighbour. Those values cannot write Hap-py. For that you need one small mark: the dot.

The song is in three-four time. It starts with an anacrusis (an upbeat before the first full bar) of one crotchet beat, shared unequally between a dotted quaver (Hap) and a semiquaver (py). The melody of this song, first published by Mildred and Patty Hill in 1893 as "Good Morning to All", is in the public domain.

Definition

Augmentation dot: a dot written just to the right of a notehead or rest. It makes the note or rest longer by half of its own value.

Dotted note: a note with an augmentation dot. Its value is $1\frac{1}{2}$ times the value of the plain note. Example: a dotted minim lasts 2 + 1 = 3 crotchet beats.

Tie: a curved line joining two notes of the same pitch. The second note is not played again; its value is added to the first.

What the dot adds

A dot never adds a fixed amount. It adds half of the note it stands beside, so a dot after a minim adds a crotchet, and a dot after a quaver adds only a semiquaver. Each dotted note can therefore also be written as the plain note tied to a note half as long:

Dotted note	Made of	Value in crotchet beats	Value in quavers
Dotted semibreve	semibreve + minim	4 + 2 = 6	12
Dotted minim	minim + crotchet	2 + 1 = 3	6
Dotted crotchet	crotchet + quaver	$1 + \frac{1}{2} = 1\frac{1}{2}$	3
Dotted quaver	quaver + semiquaver	$\frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{4} = \frac{3}{4}$	$1\frac{1}{2}$

In American books these are the dotted whole, dotted half, dotted quarter and dotted eighth notes. The values are the same; only the names differ.

Dotted rests

A rest can be dotted in exactly the same way. A dotted crotchet rest is a silence of $1\frac{1}{2}$ crotchet beats, and a dotted minim rest is a silence of 3. You will meet the dotted crotchet rest constantly in lesson 3, because in six-eight time it fills one whole beat.

Where the dot goes

A note in a space: the dot sits in the same space, just right of the head.
A note on a line: the dot moves up into the space above, so it is not hidden by the line.
The dot always goes after the head, never above or below it. A dot above or below a note is a staccato mark, which you will meet in unit 3 and which means something completely different.

Worked example

Worked example 1: does the bar add up? A bar in three-four time contains a dotted crotchet, a quaver and a crotchet. Is it complete?

Step 1. Three-four needs 3 crotchet beats in each bar.

Step 2. Add the values: $1\frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{2} + 1 = 3$ .

Answer: yes, the bar is complete.

Worked example

Worked example 2: find the missing note. A bar in four-four time holds a dotted minim and a quaver. Which single note completes it?

Step 1. Four-four needs 4 crotchet beats.

Step 2. Already used: $3 + \frac{1}{2} = 3\frac{1}{2}$ beats.

Step 3. Missing: $4 - 3\frac{1}{2} = \frac{1}{2}$ beat, which is one quaver.

Answer: a quaver (or a quaver rest).

Counting dotted notes aloud

To count a dotted rhythm, split each beat into smaller counts first. In four-four, say "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &" for quavers, and "1 e & a" for the four semiquavers of one beat. Then each note starts on one count and is held through the counts after it.

Dotted crotchet + quaver. The dotted crotchet starts on 1 and holds through "& 2". The quaver lands on the "&" after 2. Clap it while you count: clap-(hold)-(hold)-clap.
Dotted quaver + semiquaver. Inside one beat counted "1 e & a", the dotted quaver lasts "1 e &" and the semiquaver falls on "a". This is the Hap-py of the song.

A double dot also exists: the second dot adds half of what the first dot added. A double-dotted minim lasts 2 + 1 + $\frac{1}{2}$ = $3\frac{1}{2}$ beats. It is rare at this level.

Video: "Free Music Theory - Dotted Notes Explained", MusicTheoryAcademy. Watch for the tie that shows what the dot adds, and for the common mistake the presenter warns against. The video uses the American names (quarter note for crotchet, eighth note for quaver).

Tip

The dot takes half of its owner. Before you count, ask "who owns this dot?" A dot on a minim is worth a crotchet; a dot on a quaver is worth a semiquaver. Then add.

Warning

Common mistake: treating every dot as "half a beat". A dotted minim is 3 beats, not $2\frac{1}{2}$ . Only a dot after a crotchet adds half a crotchet beat.

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Practice

How many crotchet beats does a dotted minim last?
How many semiquavers equal one dotted quaver?
Write the dotted crotchet as two tied notes.
A bar of three-four holds a crotchet and a dotted crotchet. What single note completes it?
In four-four time, a bar holds a dotted crotchet, a quaver, a dotted quaver and a semiquaver. How many crotchet beats are still missing, and which one note fills the gap?
A note on the third line of the staff is dotted. Where exactly is the dot written?
Clap and count: (dotted crotchet, quaver, minim) in four-four. Say on which counts you clap.
Mugisha writes a bar of two-four as a dotted minim. Explain his mistake and give one correct way to fill a bar of two-four with a dotted note.

Show answersHide answers

3 beats (2 + 1).
3 semiquavers (2 + 1).
A crotchet tied to a quaver.
A quaver: $3 - 1 - 1\frac{1}{2} = \frac{1}{2}$ .
Used: $1\frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{2} + \frac{3}{4} + \frac{1}{4} = 3$ . Missing: 1 beat, so one crotchet.
In the space just above the third line, to the right of the notehead.
Claps on 1, on the "&" after 2, and on 3 (the minim holds through 4).
A dotted minim lasts 3 beats but two-four holds only 2. One correct bar: a dotted crotchet and a quaver ( $1\frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{2} = 2$ ).

Remember

A dot adds half the value of the note or rest it follows.
Dotted minim = 3 crotchet beats; dotted crotchet = $1\frac{1}{2}$ ; dotted quaver = $\frac{3}{4}$ .
A note on a line has its dot in the space above.
Count dotted rhythms on the smaller unit: "1 & 2 &" or "1 e & a".

Sources and credits

Lesson text, notation diagrams, worked examples and practice: written by Ganzaa.
Treble clef shape in the notation diagrams: Treble clef.svg by Tlusťa (author as recorded on Wikimedia Commons), Wikimedia Commons, released into the public domain. Resized onto Ganzaa's staves.
Melody of "Happy Birthday to You" ("Good Morning to All", Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill, 1893): public domain.
Video: "Free Music Theory - Dotted Notes Explained", MusicTheoryAcademy, embedded from YouTube.

1Hap-py: two notes that are not equal

2What the dot adds

3Dotted rests

4Where the dot goes

5Counting dotted notes aloud

Hap-py: two notes that are not equal

What the dot adds

Dotted rests

Where the dot goes

Counting dotted notes aloud