Dots and rests

Write down rhythms with dotted notes and rests.

Dotted notes

A dot makes a note half as long again. A dotted quarter note lasts a beat and a half, so the eighth note after it starts not on a beat but between beats.

To the ear a dotted rhythm "limps": a long note and a short one, "taa-ti". A dotted half note lasts three beats and fills a whole bar of three-four.

A dotted quarter and an eighth, then a dotted half

Practice: The length of a dotted note

Practice: The dotted quarter

Practice: Tap the dotted rhythm

Rests

A rest is silence of an exact length. A rest matters as much as a note: without it the rhythm shifts. When the rhythm goes quiet, keep counting the beats: the rest takes them up too.

An eighth rest on the beat is especially tricky: the note comes only on "and", as if late.

A quarter rest, an eighth rest on the beat and a half rest

If you hear all the notes but the bar won't add up, look for a rest. It is most often missed at the end of a bar.

Practice: Rhythms with rests

Practice: The dotted half in three-four