Sometimes you will see a curved line joining 2 notes together. If the 2 notes are the SAME pitch then these 2 notes are joined together rhythmically. Note: If they’re not the same pitch then ignore this line for the moment – it is something different and I’ll cover this in a later post. Let’s have a look at a couple of examples:
Here are 2 quarter notes (crotchets) normally worth 1 beat each. However, they are joined together by a tie and so the note should be held for 2 beats….
In this example, we have a half note (minim) worth 2 beats tied to a quarter note (crotchet) worth 1 beat. The result? A single note which should be held for 3 beats….
Simple really! The only catch to remember is that the notes must be the same pitch in order to be tied together. If, when learning how to read sheet music you see a curved line joining 2 notes together of different pitches then this is a slur and we will look at this at another time.
