Part of a 12-part course on reading rhythm.
We covered dotted notes in part 4. A dotted rhythm is a particular use of dotted notes, where one note falls on the beat and another falls 3⁄4 of the way through the beat, e.g.:
𝅘𝅥𝅮. 𝅘𝅥𝅯
It’s sufficiently common that it’s worth practicing by itself. Pieces in my Intermediate Classical course that use it a lot are Dvořák’s Largo from the “New World” Symphony, Albinoni’s Adagio, Bizet’s “Toreador Song”, and Verdi’s “La donna è mobile”. Let’s work through them one by one:
The most important lesson to remember is: when playing a dotted rhythm, make sure you’re splitting the beat into 4 and not 3.
Next up: rests.
