Music Timing Modifiers

Timing Modifiers - The Silence

TIME FOR A REST

Just as with speech, where we must place spaces between our words to be understood properly, so it is with music. We only have 12 notes in our music scale, (chromatic), with their respective octaves, so there must be more than just notes. In music silence is indeed golden

The space between the notes is just as, if not more important, than the notes themselves. The tempo and rhythm of music is decided by the location and duration of this silence. These spaces or timing modifiers are designated by Rests, Dotted Notes, and Tieing Notes together, (Tied Notes). With the combination of notes and silence, the rhythm, the tempo, and of course the melody becomes apparent. This spacing/silence is what gives music its flavor, mood, and uniqueness, and is used by the composer to convey the feelings that they are trying to evoke within the composition.
In the previous section on music timing we had our notes, each with its own characteristic time equivalent, in this section we will show the corresponding silence symbols.

The REST will get the same time equivalent as the note it represents, and each note, quarter-1/4, eighth-1/8, sixteenth-1/16, etc; has its own corresponding rest.

(Illustrations using 4/4 time)

The Measure Rest. Number designates the amount of time to count. Used to designate an extended silence The Measure Rest. Number designates the amount of time to count. Used to designate an extended silence

The Whole note Rest gets the same count as the Whole Note The Whole Rest gets the same count as the Whole Note

A half note rest gets the same count as the Half Note The Half Rest gets the same count as the Half Note

The Quarter Rest gets the same count as a Quarter Note

The Eighth Rest gets the same count as the Eighth Note The Eighth Rest gets the same count as the Eighth Note

The Sixteenth Rest gets the same count as the Sixteenth Note The Sixteenth Rest gets the same count as the Sixteenth Note

The Thirty Second Rest gets the same count as the Thirty second Note The Thirty Second Rest gets the same count as the Thirty second Note

The Sixty Fourth Rest gets the same count as the Sixty Fourth Note The Sixty Fourth Rest gets the same count as the Sixty Fourth Note

CONNECT THE DOTS

The Dotted Note is another means of controlling the flow of a musical composition, (it's rhythm and tempo), and it is similar to a Rest in that tit tells the musician how long to pause before the execution of the next note in the piece.
Though they have a similar effect on the flow of a composition the time equivalent of a Dotted Note is different than that of a Rest. The Dotted Note is given an extra measure of time equal to One Half ( ½), its original value, meaning that a whole note with a count of 4 beats will get an additional 2 counts when it is dotted for a total of 6 beats. A half note with a count of 2 beats will now get three beats and so on with each of our notes. It is important to mention at this time that the Rest can be Dotted just like its corresponding note.

(Illustrations using 4/4 time)

The Dotted Whole Note gets 6 beats. The Dotted Whole Note gets 6 beats. (Since it receives 6 beats a dotted whole note would not be used in 4/4 time but could be used in 6/4 time)

The Dotted Half Note gets 3 beats and equals 1 half note plus 1 quarter note

The Dotted Quarter Note gets get 1 and 1/8 beat and equals 3 eighth notes

The Dotted Eighth Note equals 3 sixteenth notes

The Dotted Sixteenth Note equals 3 thirty second notes

The Dotted Thirty Second Note equals 3 sixty fourth notes

The Dotted Sixty Fourth Note is known only to the likes of Danny Gatton or Stevie Ray

TIED NOTES

Tying notes together is a way to extend an uninterrupted note across the bar line, that is, to play a note that lasts longer than the time represented by one bar.
A TIED NOTE is represented by a curved line connecting two notes of the same pitch, and means that the note should be played once but held for the duration of both note values.
TIES can be used to extend notes across the bar or to extend the timing of a note within the bar to help clarify a complicated phrasing within the composition. The second note of the tie is never played but merely held for the additional time duration of that particular note's properties.

Tied notes, A TIE is represented by a curved line connecting two notes of the same pitch, and means that the note should be held for the duration of both note values.

In figure 1 the whole note is struck just once but is held for an additional 4 counts in the next bar, for a total count of 8 beats. In figure 2 the half note is struck once and held for an additional count of 2 in the second bar.

Next - Time Signatures

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