In Western musical notation Music notation or musical notation is any system which represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols, a dotted note is a note Notes are the "atoms" of much Western music: discretizations of musical phenomena that facilitate performance, comprehension, and analysis with a small dot written after it. The dot adds a half as much again to the basic note's duration. If the basic note lasts 2 beats, the corresponding dotted note lasts 3 beats. A dotted note is equivalent to writing the basic note tied In music notation, a tie is a curved line connecting the heads of two notes of the same pitch, indicating that they are to be played as a single note with a duration equal to the sum of the individual notes' note values. A tie is similar in appearance to a slur to a note of half the value, or with more than one dots, tied to notes of progressively halved value.[1]

If the note to be dotted is on a space, the dot also goes on the space, while if the note is on a line, the dot goes on the space above (this also goes for notes on ledger lines).[2]

Theoretically, any note value can be dotted, as can rests A rest is an interval of silence in a piece of music, marked by a sign indicating the length of the pause. Each rest symbol corresponds with a particular note value: of any value. If the rest is in its normal position, are always placed in third staff space from the bottom,[3]

The use of a dot for augmentation In music and music theory augmentation is the lengthening or widening of rhythms, melodies, intervals or chords. The opposite is diminution of a note dates back at least to the 10th century, although the exact amount of augmentation is disputed; see Neume A neume is the basic element of Western and Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff notation. The word is a Middle English corruption of the ultimately Ancient Greek word for breath (pneuma - πνεῦμα).

Dots can be used across barlines, such as in H. C. Robbins Landon's edition of Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 70 in D major, but most writers today regard this usage as "obsolete" and recommend using a tie across the barline instead.[4]

More than one dot may be added; each dot adds half of the duration added by the previous dot, as shown in example 1.

Contents

Double dotting

A double-dotted note is a note Notes are the "atoms" of much Western music: discretizations of musical phenomena that facilitate performance, comprehension, and analysis with two small dots written after it. Its duration is 1¾ times (1 + ½ + ¼) its basic note value In music notation, a note value indicates the relative duration of a note, using the color or shape of the note head, the presence or absence of a stem, and the presence or absence of flags.

The double-dotted note is used less frequently than the dotted note. Typically, as in the example below, it is followed by a note whose duration is one-quarter the length of the basic note value In music notation, a note value indicates the relative duration of a note, using the color or shape of the note head, the presence or absence of a stem, and the presence or absence of flags, completing the next higher note value.

Example 2

Example 2 is a fragment of the second movement of Joseph Haydn Joseph Haydn was an Austrian composer. He was one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these genres. He was also instrumental in the development of the piano trio and in's String Quartet A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players — usually two violinists, a violist and a cellist — or a piece written to be performed by such a group. The string quartet is one of the most prominent chamber ensembles in classical music, Opus The Latin plural of opus, "opera", is used to refer to the genre of music drama 74, No. 2, a theme and variations In music, variation is a formal technique where material is altered during repetition: reiteration with changes. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre or orchestration. The first note is double-dotted.

In a French overture The French overture is a musical form widely used in the Baroque period. It is in three parts: the first is slow, often with over-dotted , the second is quick and fugal, and the first part returns at the end (and sometimes other Baroque music Baroque music describes a style of European classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1750. This era is said to begin in music after the Renaissance and was followed by the Classical era. The word "baroque" came from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning "misshapen pearl", a strikingly fitting characterization of the), notes written as dotted notes are often interpreted to mean double-dotted notes,[5] and the following note is commensurately shortened; see authentic performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or Historically Informed Performance Practice ) is an approach, or movement, in the performance of classical music. Members of this movement usually play on period instruments, and utilise historical treatises, as well as additional historical.

Triple dotting

A triple-dotted note is a note Notes are the "atoms" of much Western music: discretizations of musical phenomena that facilitate performance, comprehension, and analysis with three dots written after it; its duration is 1⅞ times (1 + ½ + ¼ + ⅛) its basic note value In music notation, a note value indicates the relative duration of a note, using the color or shape of the note head, the presence or absence of a stem, and the presence or absence of flags. Use of a triple-dotted note value is not common in the Baroque and Classical periods, but quite common in the music of Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director and essayist, primarily known for his operas (or "music dramas", as they were later called). Wagner's compositions, particularly those of his later period, are notable for their complex texture, rich harmonies and orchestration, and the elaborate use of leitmotifs: and Anton Bruckner Anton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The former are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length. Bruckner's compositions helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing to their, especially in their brass parts. See example 3.

Example 3

An example of the use of double- and triple-dotted notes is the Prelude in G Major for piano, op. 28 No. 3, by Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin, in Polish Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin , was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music. The piece, in common time The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat (4/4), contains running semiquavers in the left hand. Several times during the piece Chopin asks for the right hand to play a triple-dotted minim In music, a half note or minim (British) is a note played for half the duration of a whole note (or semibreve) and twice the duration of a quarter note (or crotchet). In time signatures with a denominator of 4, such as 4/4 or 3/4 time, the half note is two beats long (lasting 15 semiquavers) simultaneously with the first left-hand semiquaver, then one semiquaver simultaneously with the 16th left-hand semiquaver.

Formula

Although notes with more than three dots do not occur often, one can determine the length of any given note a with n dots: .

This makes it clear that continuous dotting does give a continuous prolongation of the original note, but it will never get as long as twice the original value.

References

  1. ^ Gardner Read, Music Notation: A Manual of Modern Practice 2nd Edition. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, Inc. (1969): 114, Example 8-11; 116, Example 8-18; 117, Example 8-20.
  2. ^ Glen Rosencrans, Music Notation Primer. New York: Passantino (1979): 29
  3. ^ Read (1969): 119; 120, Example 8-28. The author points out the obvious fact "that it is impossible to tie rests."
  4. ^ Read (1969): 117 - 118. "Ranging from Renaissance madrigals to the keyboard works of Johannes Brahms, one often finds such a notation as the one at the left below." (The next page shows an example labelled "older notation" of two measures of music in 4/4 of which the second measure contains, in order: an augmentation dot, a quarter note and a half note.
  5. ^ Adam Carse, 18th Century Symphonies: A Short History of the Symphony in the 18th Century. London: Augener Ltd. (1951): 28. "Contemporary theorists made it clear that the dotted note should be sustained beyond its actual value (the double dot was not then in use), and that the short note or notes should be played as quickly as possible."
Musical notation Music notation or musical notation is any system which represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols and development In European classical music, musical development is a process by which a musical idea is communicated in the course of a composition. It refers to the transformation and restatement of initial material, and is often contrasted with musical variation, which is a slightly different means to the same end. Development is carried out upon portions of
Staff In standard Western musical notation, the staff or stave is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces, each of which represents a different musical pitch, or, in the case of a percussion staff, different percussion instruments. Appropriate music symbols, depending upon the intended effect, are placed on the staff according to their Bar & Bar line In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined as a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by a time signature (such as 3/4) · Clef A clef is a musical symbol used to indicate the pitch of written notes. Placed on one of the lines at the beginning of the staff, it indicates the name and pitch of the notes on that line. This line serves as a reference point by which the names of the notes on any other line or space of the staff may be determined · Da Capo Da Capo is a musical term in Italian, meaning from the beginning . It is often abbreviated D.C. It is a composer or publisher's directive to repeat the previous part of music. In small pieces this might be the same thing as a repeat, but in larger works D.C. might occur after one or more repeats of small sections, indicating a return to the very · Dal Segno In music notation, Dal segno (often abbreviated D.S.) is used as a navigation marker. From Italian for "from the sign," D.S. appears in sheet music and instructs a musician to repeat a passage starting from the sign shown at right, sometimes called the "segno" in English · Key signature In musical notation, a key signature is a series of sharp or flat symbols placed on the staff, designating notes that are to be consistently played one semitone higher or lower than the equivalent natural notes unless otherwise altered with an accidental. Key signatures are generally written immediately after the clef at the beginning of a line of · Ledger line A ledger line or leger line is musical notation to inscribe notes outside the lines and spaces of the regular musical staffs. A line slightly longer than the note is drawn parallel to the staff, above or below, spaced at the same distances as the notes within the staff · Musical mode In addition, from the end of the eighteenth century, the term began to be used in ethnomusicological contexts to describe pitch structures in non-European musical cultures, sometimes with doubtful compatibility · Musical scale In music, a scale is a group of musical notes collected in ascending and descending order, that provides material for or is used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical work including melody and/or harmony. Scales are ordered in pitch or pitch class, with their ordering providing a measure of musical distance · Rehearsal letter A rehearsal letter is a boldface letter of the alphabet in an orchestral score, and its corresponding parts, that provides a convenient spot from which to resume rehearsal after a break. Rehearsal letters are most often used in scores of the Romantic era, beginning with Louis Spohr. They may also be generically called rehearsal marks or rehearsal · Repeat sign In music, a repeat sign is the sign which indicates a section should be repeated. If the piece has one repeat sign alone, then that means to repeat from the beginning, and then continue on . A corresponding sign facing the other way indicates where the repeat is to begin. These are analogous to the instructions da capo and dal segno · Time signature The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat · Transposition In music transposition refers to the process of moving a collection of notes up or down in pitch by a constant interval. For example, one might transpose an entire piece of music into another key. Similarly, one might transpose a tone row or an unordered collection of pitches such as a chord so that it begins on another pitch. See also Transposing · Transposing instrument A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which written notes are read at a pitch different from concert pitch, which a non-transposing instrument, such as a piano, would play. On a transposing instrument, a concert C is written as a different note; the concert pitch that is played for a written C determines the key that an instrument
Notes Notes are the "atoms" of much Western music: discretizations of musical phenomena that facilitate performance, comprehension, and analysis Accidental In music, an accidental is a note whose pitch is not a member of a scale or mode indicated by the most recently applied key signature. In musical notation, the symbols used to mark such notes, sharps (♯), flats (♭), and naturals (♮), may also be called accidentals. An accidental sign raises or lowers the following note from its normal pitch, (Flat In music, flat, or Bemolle, means "lower in pitch." More specifically, in music notation, flat means "lower in pitch by a semitone ," and has an associated symbol (♭), which is a stylised lowercase "b" . The Unicode character '♭' (U+266D) is the flat sign. Its HTML entity is ♭ · Natural In musical notation, a natural sign is an accidental sign used to cancel a flat or sharp from either a preceding note or the key signature. If a bar contains a double sharp or double flat accidental and the composer wishes to denote the same note with only a single sharp or flat, a natural sign traditionally precedes the (single) sharp or flat · Sharp In music, sharp means higher in pitch. More specifically, in musical notation, sharp means "higher in pitch by a semitone ," and has an associated symbol (♯), which is often confused with the number (hash) sign (#). The hash sign has two horizontal lines and two slanted lines, while the sharp sign has two vertical lines and two slanted) · Dotted note · Grace note A grace note is a kind of music notation used to denote several kinds of musical ornaments. When occurring by itself, a single grace note normally indicates the intention of either an appoggiatura or an acciaccatura. When they occur in groups, grace notes can be interpreted to indicate any of several different classes of ornamentation, depending · Note value In music notation, a note value indicates the relative duration of a note, using the color or shape of the note head, the presence or absence of a stem, and the presence or absence of flags (Beam A beam in musical notation is a thick line frequently used to connect multiple consecutive eighth notes , or notes of shorter value (indicated by two or more beams), and occasionally rests. Beamed notes or rests are groups of notes and rests connected by a beam; the use of beams is called beaming · Note head In music, a note head is the elliptical part of a note. Noteheads may be coloured completely black or white, indicating the note value . In a whole note, the note head is the only component of the note. Shorter note values attach a stem to the note head, and possibly beams or flags. The longer double whole note can be written with vertical lines · Stem Stems are the lines which extend from the notehead. Stems may point up or down. Different-facing stems indicate the voice for polyphonic music written on the same staff. For single-note melodies, the stems usually point down for notes on the middle line or higher, and up for those below. If the stem points up from a notehead, the stem originates) · Pitch Pitch represents the perceived fundamental frequency of a sound. It is one of the four major auditory attributes of sounds along with loudness, timbre and sound source location. When the actual fundamental frequency can be precisely determined through physical measurement, it may differ from the perceived pitch because of overtones, also known as · Rest · Interval · Letter notation
Articulation Dynamics · Ornament (Trill · Mordent · Grace note) · Ossia · Portato · Accent · Legato · Tenuto · Marcato · Staccato · Staccatissimo · Tie · Slur · Fermata
Development Coda · Exposition · Harmony · Melody · Motif · Recapitulation · Rhythm (Beat · Meter · Tempo) · Theme · Tonality · Atonality
Related Chord chart · Figured bass · Graphic notation · Lead sheet · Eye music · Modern musical symbols · Neume · Tablature

Categories: Musical notation

 

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