Dots and Ties

Once you can read basic note values (whole, half, quarter, eighth), you need two small tools that let rhythm bend beyond those tidy numbers: the dot and the tie. Both make a note last longer, but they do it in different ways and for different reasons.

The dot adds half again

A dot written just after a notehead means: add half of that note's value back onto itself. So you take the note's plain length and stretch it by 50 percent.

• A dotted half note = 2 beats plus half of 2 (1 beat) = 3 beats.
• A dotted quarter note = 1 beat plus half of 1 (0.5) = 1.5 beats.
• A dotted eighth note = 0.5 plus half of 0.5 (0.25) = 0.75 beat.

Below, a dotted quarter is paired with an eighth. Together they cover two beats: 1.5 plus 0.5 = 2. That dotted-quarter-plus-eighth shape is one of the most common rhythms in music, so it is worth hearing and recognising.

A table of dotted values

Counting in 4/4, where a quarter note gets one beat:

A rare double dot follows the same idea one step further: the second dot adds half of what the first dot added. A double-dotted half note is 2 plus 1 plus 0.5 = 3.5 beats.

The tie joins two notes into one

A tie is a curved line connecting two notes of the same pitch. It tells you to play the first note and hold it through the value of the second, without striking the key again. The two written notes become a single sustained sound whose length is the sum of both.

For example, a half note tied to a quarter note of the same pitch is played as one tone lasting 2 plus 1 = 3 beats. The result matches a dotted half note, so you might ask why ties exist at all.

Dot versus tie

The key difference: a dot can only extend a note within a single value, but a tie can reach across a bar line. When a sound needs to continue from the last beat of one measure into the next, no single dotted note can span that boundary, because a bar line must fall between the measures. A tie carries the sound over it.

Think of it this way: a dot lengthens a note in place, while a tie glues two written notes together so one keeps ringing into the next. Reach for a tie whenever a held note has to cross a bar line.