Understanding Basic Music Theory - Catherine Schmidt-Jones [13]
Figure 1.69.
If a piece begins with a pickup measure, the final measure of the piece is shortened by the length of the pickup measure.
Pickup Notes
Any phrase of music (not just the first one) may begin someplace other than on a strong downbeat. All the notes before the first strong downbeat of any phrase are the pickup notes to that phrase.
Figure 1.70.
Any phrase may begin with pickup notes. Each of these four phrases begins with one or two pickup notes. (You may listen to the tune here; can you hear that the pickup notes lead to the stronger downbeat?)
A piece that is using pickup measures or pickup notes may also sometimes place a double bar (with or without repeat signs) inside a measure, in order to make it clear which phrase and which section of the music the pickup notes belong to. If this happens (which is a bit rare, because it can be confusing to read), there is still a single bar line where it should be, at the end of the measure.
Figure 1.71.
At the ends of sections of the music, a measure may be interrupted by a double bar that places the pickup notes in the correct section and assures that repeats have the correct number of beats. When this happens, the bar line will still appear at the end of the completed measure. This notation can be confusing, though, and in some music the pickups and repeats are written in a way that avoids these broken-up measures.
Note
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Dots, Ties, and Borrowed Divisions*
A half note is half the length of a whole note; a quarter note is half the length of a half note; an eighth note is half the length of a quarter note, and so on. (See Duration:Note Length.) The same goes for rests. (See Duration: Rest Length.) But what if you want a note (or rest) length that isn't half of another note (or rest) length?
Dotted Notes
One way to get a different length is by dotting the note or rest. A dotted note is one-and-a-half times the length of the same note without the dot. In other words, the note keeps its original length and adds another half of that original length because of the dot. So a dotted half note, for example, would last as long as a half note plus a quarter note, or three quarters of a whole note.
Figure 1.72.
The dot acts as if it is adding another note half the length of the original note. A dotted quarter note, for example, would be the length of a quarter plus an eighth, because an eighth note is half the length of a quarter note.
Exercise 1.11.1. (Go to Solution)
Make groups of equal length on each side, by putting a dotted note or rest in the box.
Figure 1.73.
A note may have more than one dot. Each dot adds half the length that the dot before it added. For example, the first dot after a half note adds a quarter note length; the second dot would add an eighth note length.
Figure 1.74.
When a note has more than one dot, each dot is worth half of the dot before it.
Tied Notes
A dotted half lasts as long as a half note plus a quarter note. The same length may be written as a half note and a quarter note tied together. Tied notes are written with a curved line connecting two notes that are on the same line or the same space in the staff. Notes of any length may be tied together, and more than two notes may be tied together. The sound they stand for will be a single note that is the length of all the tied notes added together. This is another way to make a great variety of note lengths. Tied notes are also the only way to write a sound that starts in one measure and