From Zero to Mozart
Stage 2RhythmLesson 5 of 37 · Reading

The dot after a note

A small dot directly after a notehead adds half of that note's own value on top. One rule, and it works on every value.

  • a dotted half note = 2 + 1 = 3 beats
  • a dotted quarter note = 1 + ½ = 1½ beats
  • a dotted whole note = 4 + 2 = 6 beats (only in a bar long enough to hold it)
  • a dotted eighth note = ½ + ¼ = ¾ of a beat

The dot is exactly half again — never a vague "a little longer."

A dotted half fills the bar with room to spare

66 bpm
Bar 1: a dotted half (3 beats) plus a quarter. Bar 2: two plain halves, for comparison. The dot bought a whole extra beat.

The dotted quarter + eighth — the one you'll meet most

This is the "long–short" limp of a march or a carol. The dotted quarter holds through beat 1 and half of beat 2; the eighth lands on the "and".

63 bpm
Count '1 – & 2', with the first note held from '1' right up to the '&'. Clap it: LONG–short, then two steady beats.

Straight, then dotted — hear the limp arrive

60 bpm
Bar 1: four even quarters. Bar 2: the same four beats, but the first and third notes are dotted and the second and fourth are quick eighths. Same notes, completely different character — bar 2 marches, bar 1 walks.

In a real tune

Ode to Joy's second phrase ends on a dotted figure: four steady notes, then a stretched note, a clipped one, and a long one to close.

66 bpm
Bar 2 is the dotted figure: the first note held from beat 1 through beat 2, the eighth popping out on the '&' straight after, then a half note on beats 3–4. It's the phrase's little sigh. You'll play the whole tune in Movement I.

The usual mistake

Two versions. Playing the dotted quarter as a full two beats — forgetting the dot is only half again. Or evening it out to "long–long" and losing the limp entirely. Both are fixed by saying the count aloud with the "&" in it: "1 – & 2", and the note ends exactly on the "&".

Try

Clap four even quarters, then clap the dotted version (dotted-quarter, eighth, dotted-quarter, eighth) at the same tempo. Switch between them a few times without the pulse changing.