Example 1. Dotted notes and their equivalent durations. The curved lines, called ties, add the note values together

In Western musical notation, a dotted note is a note with a small dot written after it. 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 See also Modern musical symbols Music notation or musical notation is any system which represents aurally perceived Music through the use In Music, the term note has two primary meanings 1 a sign used in Musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a Sound; 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.

Any note value may be dotted.

The use of a dot for augmentation of a note dates back at least to the 10th century, although the exact amount of augmentation is disputed; see Neume. In Music and Music theory augmentation is the lengthening or widening of Rhythms melodies, intervals chords The opposite Neumes are the basic elements of Western and Eastern systems of Musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff notation

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

Double dotting

A double-dotted note is a note with two small dots written after it. In Music, the term note has two primary meanings 1 a sign used in Musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a Sound; Its duration is 1¾ times (1 + ½ + ¼) its basic note value. A tone may be sustained for varying lengths of time. duration is a property of tone that becomes one of the bases rhythem or an amount of Time or a particular time In Music notation, a note value indicates the relative Duration of a note, using the color or shape of the Note head, the presence

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, completing the next higher 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

Example 2

Example 2 is a fragment of the second movement of Joseph Haydn's String Quartet, Opus 74, No. A string quartet is a Musical ensemble of four String instruments &mdash usually two Violins a Viola and Cello &mdash or a piece Opus, from the Latin word opus meaning "work" is usually used in the sense of "a Work of art " 2, a theme and variations. Variation form Variation form include Ground bass, Passacaglia, Chaconne, and theme and variations The first note is double-dotted.

• Haydn's theme was adapted for piano by an unknown composer; the adapted version can be heard here (3. 7 kB MIDI file).

In a French overture (and sometimes other Baroque music), notes written as dotted notes are often interpreted to mean double-dotted notes, and the following note is commensurately shortened; see authentic performance. The French overture is a Musical form widely used in the Baroque period Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750. The historically informed performance, period performance, or authentic performance movement is an approach by musicians and scholars to research and perform works

Triple dotting

A triple-dotted note is a note with three dots written after it; its duration is 1⅞ times (1 + ½ + ¼ + ⅛) its basic note value. In Music, the term note has two primary meanings 1 a sign used in Musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a Sound; A tone may be sustained for varying lengths of time. duration is a property of tone that becomes one of the bases rhythem or an amount of Time or a particular time In Music notation, a note value indicates the relative Duration of a note, using the color or shape of the Note head, the presence 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 and Anton Bruckner, especially in their brass parts. Anton Bruckner (4 September 1824 &ndash 11 October 1896 was an Austrian composer known primarily for his symphonies, masses, and Motets 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. The piece, in common time (4/4), contains running semiquavers in the left hand. The time signature (also known as " meter signature" is a notational convention used in Western Musical notation to specify how many beats Several times during the piece Chopin asks for the right hand to play a triple-dotted minim (lasting 15 semiquavers) simultaneously with the first left-hand semiquaver, then one semiquaver simultaneously with the 16th left-hand semiquaver. In Music, a half note (American or German terminology or minim (British or classical terminology is a Note played for half the duration of a

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.