Sometimes you will see a dot after a note (don’t confuse this with a dot above or below the note – that is something totally different and we’ll look at that in a different post).
A dot placed after a note makes the note 50% longer than it is. It’s really that simple – all you need to do when learning how to read music is use a little bit of maths. Let’s look at a few examples.
Examples
If a dot is put after a quarter note (crotchet) which is normally worth 1 beat, the note will now be worth 50% longer. i.e. 1 and a half beats (1 plus a half).
If a dot is put after a half note (minim) normally worth 2 beats then it will now be worth 3 beats (2 plus 1).
If a dot is put after an eighth note (quaver) normally worth half a beat, then it will now be worth three quarters of a beat (half plus a quarter).
Try testing yourself on one of the worksheets – good luck!
