Basic Music Theory: How to Read, Write, and Understand Written Music

Basic Music Theory

The Dotted Half Note.

A more common type of dotted note is the dotted half note. How long is

a dotted half note? Use the formula. The half note gets two beats, and half

of that is one. Two plus one is three.

Or, 2 x 1 1/2 = 3.

The dotted half note gets three beats.

Though a dotted half note could happen in any time signature with more

than three beats in the measure, in the example, I’ve used 3/4 time.

Example 16.2 Three measures of dotted half notes.

The Dotted Quarter Note

Here’s where things get a little tricky, but it’s still not too tough. A

quarter note gets one beat. Half of that is half of a beat.

Or 1 1/2 x 1 = 1 1/2

A dotted quarter note gets 1 1/2 beats in 4/4 time.

To make the counting easier, think of the dotted quarter note in terms of

how many eighth notes are in it. Because it’s 1 1/2 beats, that comes out

to be 3 eighth notes.

Notice that when counting dotted quarters, you use a count similar to

eighth notes. This is so that you can keep track of exactly how long each

dotted quarter note is. Say the bold items in a normal voice, and the rest

in a softer voice, as always with a steady foot-tap.

1 -2-3 1 -2-3 1 -2-3