This post is one of a 2-part series of free basic music theory lessons on my blog, musictheoryde-mystified.com. You can see the complete list here. Please feel welcome to make a comment or ask a question.
For convenience I will assume that a crotchet equals 1 beat. This is the case in time signatures of X/4, such as 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 etc. In these time signatures we have note values for 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1, 1 1/2, 2, 3 and 4 beats. Including double-dotted notes we can add 1 3/4 and 3 1/2 beats.
But what if we want to have a note longer than a bar? Or a note that’s 2 1/2 beats long? Or a note that’s starts before a barline but continues after it?
Ties
A tie is a curved line joining two consecutive notes of the same pitch, resulting in a continuous note of their combined length.
For instance, 2 minims joined by a tie sound like a semibreve.
If you want to join more than 2 notes together, such as when a note is several bars long, use a tie between each pair.
Here are a few examples:
For longer notes, the same length note may need to be broken up differently depending on the time signature. Here is a 9-beat long note in 4/4 and 3/4:
Ties are written opposite the stem.
- If the stems go above the notehead, ties are written underneath the note.
- If the stems go below the notehead, ties are written above the note.
NOTE: Tied notes must be of the same pitch!
Slurs Are Not Ties
You may have seen curved lines joining notes of different pitch, or encompassing several notes. These are not ties! They are called slurs and are used as an expression mark meaning legato, to play smoothly, without break or emphasis.
*Some common expression markings can be found in Beginner’s Tips (coming soon).
A tie can occur inside a slur.
Try These…
Write the following note lengths, using multiple note values and ties as necessary:
- 3 and a half beats
- 2 and a quarter beats
- 7 beats in 4/4
- 6 and a half beats in 4/4
- 6 and a half beats in 3/4
- 10 and three quarter beats in 4/4
Answers at the end of this post.
Beaming and the Time Signature Hierarchy
Short notes are beamed in groups of 1 beat (in X/4, quavers can also be beamed in groups of 1 strong beat). A beam always runs from the start of a beat to the end of that beat.
Beams never run across a beat. The idea is that, in a passage of short notes, you can see at a glance where the beats fall because of the way the notes are beamed.
If a note starts partway through one beat and carries over to the 2nd beat, it should be written as two shorter notes, one at the end of one beat and one at the start of the next beat, and joined with a tie.
This enables the reader to see where the beats fall, including when that’s part-way through a note. Wrongly beamed notes make the music very difficult to read!
Note:
Rhythms with notes that cross the beat, such as the previous example and those following, are not very easy to play compared to the rhythms we’ve already learnt.
When notes are split up correctly and joined with ties, we can see when a beat falls part-way through a note. This makes it possible to learn such new rhythms by zooming in and counting quavers. (If it’s still hard to play, we can zoom in twice and count each semiquaver as a beat, as explained in the previous lesson).
Playing notes that cross the beat is a form of syncopation. We’ll look at syncopation, including some basic exercises, in Part 2 of this course.
Longer Notes and Time Signatures
If a longer note starts before or after a beat, it, too, must be split up to show where the beats fall.
If we want a minim to start on, say, the 2nd semiquaver, we have to split it up into 3 parts to show where the beats fall. It may seem like a hassle but, as I mentioned earlier, indicating where the beats fall makes it so much easier to read and play.
Note: Due to common usage, a crotchet or dotted crotchet can start on any quaver but if it starts on the 2nd or 4th semiquaver (after a semiquaver or dotted quaver) you have to split it as above.
Try These…
Rewrite the following rhythms with correct beaming, splitting notes which fall across a beat and using ties where necessary:
Answers at the end of this post.
What’s Next?
This is the final lesson in Part 1 of my 2-part course in basic music theory.
Part 2 will commence later this year. In the meantime, here are a couple of suggestions for revision and follow-up.
Follow-up
- Keep practising the musicianship exercises in this course (and similar exercises) until they are second nature. The abilities to sing or hum scales and intervals and to tap, clap or play rhythms are general skills useful for most instruments and genres.
These skills also help to connect notation and music theory to musical experience.
*Relevant lessons can be quickly found under the post category of Musicianship.
- Visit the category Beginner’s Tips for extra posts on navigation signs, dynamics, tempo and expression markings.
- Practise reading simple, well-known melodies in various keys in your preferred genre and clef.
Revision
Music Theory
- Revisit the major musical concepts of modes, scales, and keys.
- Become familiar with key signatures. Either learn them via a mnemonic or become quick at using key relationships to work them out.
- Become familiar with key relationships: the cycle of 5ths (or at least how it works), relative major/minor and parallel major/minor.
- Revisit major/minor/perfect interval names and how to name an interval.
Notation
- Become familiar with the time signature hierarchy of 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4.
- Practice reading and writing 1-beat rhythms (down to semiquavers).
- Write key signatures in their correct sequence.
Coming Soon… Part 2 of this 2-part course in basic music theory.
This will include harmonic and melodic minor, augmented/diminished intervals, major/minor/modal chords, 7th chords, syncopation, compound time and more.
If you found this post helpful, please feel welcome to like, share or leave a comment. If you have any questions, leave them as a comment and I’ll respond as soon as I can. To stay up to date wth new posts, please subscribe.
Congratulations!
You have completed Part 1 of Music Theory De-mystified basic music theory course. I hope you have enjoyed it.
Part 2 includes augmented/diminished intervals, compound time signatures, plenty of basic rhythm exercises, melodic and harmonic minors, major and minor chords and more.
PART 2 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents
NEXT LESSON: B1. Syncopation Basics: Playing Off The Beat
PART 1 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents
Answers to Try These…
