In Westernmusical notation, adotted note is anote with a small dot written after it.[a] In modern practice, the dot increases theduration of the original note by half of itsvalue. This makes a dotted note equivalent to the original notetied to a note of half the value – for example, a dottedhalf note is equivalent to a half note tied to aquarter note. Subsequent dots add progressively halved value, as shown in the example to the right.[1][b]
The use of dotted notes dates back at least to the 10th century, but the exact amount of lengthening a dot provides in early music contexts may vary.Mensural notation uses adot of division to clarify ambiguities about its context-dependent interpretation ofrhythmic values, sometimes alongside thedot ofaugmentation as described above. In thegregorian chant editions of Solesmes, a dot is typically interpreted as a doubling of length (see alsoNeume).
Historical examples of musicperformance practices using unequal rhythms includenotes inégales andswing. The precise performance of dotted rhythms can be a complex issue. Even in notation that employs dots, their performed values may be longer or shorter than the dot mathematically indicates, practices known asover-dotting orunder-dotting.[2]
If dotted note is on a space, the dot is placed in that space. If the note is on a line, the dot is placed in the space above. This principle also applies to notes on ledger lines.[3]
The placement of dots need not follow this convention when space does not allow for it. For example, when dots apply to adjacent notes in a chord or notes in multiple voices.
Any note value can be dotted, as canrests of any value. If the rest is in its normal vertical position near the middle of the staff, dots are placed in the third staff space.[4] Dotted rests are conventional in compound meters but can sometimes be used in simple meters as well.
In Baroque music, dotted notation was sometimes used to indicatetriplet rhythms when the context makes it obvious.
Dots have been used acrossbarlines, such as inH. C. Robbins Landon's edition ofJoseph Haydn'sSymphony No. 70 in D major, but this usage is obsolete—a tie across the barline is used instead.[5]
A double-dotted note is a note with two small dots written after it, with a duration of1+3⁄4 times its basicnote value. Double-dotted notes are much less common than single dotted notes. Typically, as in the example to the right, they are followed by a note whose duration is one-quarter the length of the basic note value, completing the next higher note value. Double dots were not used until the mid-18th century, before which a single dot could sometimes mean a double dot.[6]
In aFrench overture (and sometimes otherBaroque music), notes written as single dotted notes are often interpreted to mean double-dotted notes,[7] and the following note is commensurately shortened (seeHistorically informed performance).
Triple dotted notes are very uncommon, and quadruple dotted notes are extremely rare.[8] Triple-dotted notes are found in the music ofRichard Wagner andAnton Bruckner, especially in brass parts.[citation needed] Their duration is1+7⁄8 times the basic note value.
Triple-dotted notes also appear inFrédéric Chopin'sPrelude in G major for piano, Op. 28, No. 3. The piece, incommon time (4
4), contains runningsemiquavers (sixteenth notes) in the left hand. Several times during the piece the right hand plays a triple-dottedminim (half note), lasting 15 semiquavers, simultaneously with the first left-hand semiquaver, then one semiquaver simultaneously with the last left-hand semiquaver.
Quadruple-dotted notes, with a duration of1+15⁄16 times its basic note value, are extremely rare. A quintuple dotted note would be1+31⁄32 times the original note's value.[c] This becomes impractical due to the increasingly small gradation of the length of such a note (notes shorter than sixty-fourth notes are rare and at the limits of what is practical[9]) and the fact that multiple dots obscure any intermediate divisions of the beat, making the rhythm more difficult to read.
| Undotted | 1 dot | 2 dots | 3 dots | 4 dots | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lengthens | N/A () | 1⁄2 | 1⁄4 | 1⁄8 | 1⁄16 |
| Decimal result | |||||
| Fractional result | 1⁄2 | 3⁄4 | 7⁄8 | 15⁄16 |
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