by Tania Gleaves on May 15, 2013
Dotted Notes
Dotted notes are the exact opposite of flagged notes. The small flag that follows a note decreases that note’s duration by half, whereas a small dot that follows a note increases that note’s duration by half. A dotted half note would therefore become three quarter notes (one half note equals two quarter notes). A dotted quarter note would therefore become three eighth notes (one quarter note equals two eighth notes), and so on and so forth. Since it isn’t easy to see a dot on a line, dots are placed within the spaces of a staff.
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Just like flagged notes however, dotted notes vary music. By itself, music can be quite static if it isn’t spiced up a bit with a few pauses, longer durations, or shortened stints. Flags and dots are just two tools we use to make music come alive with personality. We also have staccato notes to play with.
Staccato Notes
Dotted notes like staccato notes are indicated with a dot placed at their very tops or bottoms. When you run across a staccato note, you must play it with a short and crisp emphasis. Since the space between each is short and silent , staccato notes sound as though they’re spontaneous additives and they’ll liven up a song while filling the audience with anticipation.
They really lend variety to a song when played within a section that leads up to a legato section. Legato notes are played as though they’re connected. There are no distinguishable breaks between each pitch. But when played right after or right before a staccato section, the end result is an exciting combination that comes together in a pleasing way.
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by Tania Gleaves on May 9, 2013
When you start studying piano lessons, you will learn the basic knowledge of music which also includes music time signatures. Time signatures are composed of two numbers in the form of a fraction which tells you the number of notes and the kind of note receiving one beat in each measure. Say what?! That might have been your initial reaction upon reading this definition, believe me, I’ve been there. But don’t worry because I will break down music time signatures for you in an easier to understand manner.
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Music time signatures are commonly found at the beginning of each music sheet. These are the fraction numbers written right after the clef on the first staff. The top number lets you know how many beats there are per measure while the bottom number informs you what kind of note receives one beat. The top numbers can be any number but the bottom numbers always follow 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16. No other numbers can be represented at the bottom except for the aforementioned ones because they represent the five different notes.
If you are a bit confused by this, just imagine the bottom number in the form of a fraction with 1 as its top number. When you read the fractions, you will know right away what kind of note they stand for.
The Bottom Number With Their Corresponding Note Values:
1 – whole note
2 – half note
4 – quarter note
8 – eighth note
16 – sixteenth note
Say for example, a music sheet has 4/4 music time signature, this means that there are 4 beats in a measure and the quarter note gets a beat each time. In the staff, you will find four quarter notes or its corresponding equivalent in one measure. Some of the corresponding equivalents of four quarter notes can be two half notes, one whole note, two quarter notes and four eighths, and a few others more. Your guide for knowing the corresponding equivalents of music time signatures will be the length of duration each note has originally.
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