Lesson 1 Question

[Forte]

The dot after a note always appears on a space, whether the note-head is on a line or space. (See Fig. 5.) In the case of a dot after a note on a line, the dot usually appears on the space above that line if the next note is higher in position and on the space below it if the following note is lower.

By how much does a dot after a not extend its value?

[martinzufall]

It extends the duration of a note by 1/2 of the duration value of the note being "dotted".

For example: a quarter note that is "dotted" will have a total duration of 1+1/2 quarter notes (or one quarter note+one eigth note).

[Thorolf]

^ While this is correct for *one* dot, the formula is orginal note + 1/2 of it for the first dot, 1/4 of original for the second dot, and so on. A half note with three dots thus lasts for 1/2 (original) + 1/4 (first dot) + 1/8 (second dot) + 1/16 (third dot) = 15/16.

Regards

[ttw]

There are styles for which this is modified. In some French Baroque and some military band music, single dots are played as double dotted. It's a performance practice thing and passed on through performance, not necessarily ever noted. Similarly for things like dotted eighth plus sixteenth played against triplets. Some styles modify the dotted figure to extend by one third, others don't.

Unwritten performance practice does make it difficult to get an original intent performance.

[Bassoonery]

Similarly in pieces like Shubert's impromptus there is debate about whether he wanted the dotted rhythms to be played as triplets, considering the tripletted left hand. It's really a matter of taste, especially as Shubert's original manuscripts were lazily notated so it is hard to know exactly what he wanted.

But yes, Thorolf's formula is the correct one to use in most circumstances

[Thorolf]

^ LOL! Yes, what I say is mathematically right at the same level of definition that says 1/1 = 2 x 1/2. But in real life, something as allegedly simple as the whole note is not necessarily sustained for a whole bar of 4/4. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. And when you see four successive quarter notes, is should mathematically always be played legatissimo, if nothing else is stated, but musicality and tradition makes us interpret it, so it deviates from the mathematically “true”, and approaches a musical idea. It doesn’t mean that the maths involved is invalid, but it suggests that one always has to be creative, reading groups of notes like musical words, not spelling them out like a machine rendering.

Regards

[Forte]

Thanks for the amazing response to me question. I can tell I'm gonna learn alot sticking around here!