Editing Dotted note (section)

{{Distinguish|text=[[staccato]]}}
{{short description|Musical note duration}}
[[File:dotted notes3.svg|frame|Dotted notes and their equivalent durations. The curved lines, called [[Tie (music)|ties]], add the note values together.]]

In Western [[musical notation]], a '''dotted note''' is a [[Musical note|note]] with a small dot written after it.{{efn|For dots placed above or below notes, see [[Staccato]] and [[Portato]].}} In modern practice, the first dot increases the [[duration (music)|duration]] of the original note by half of its [[note value|value]]. This makes a dotted note equivalent to the original note [[tie (music)|tie]]d to a note of half the value – for example, a dotted [[half note]] is equivalent to a half note tied to a [[quarter note]]. Subsequent dots add progressively halved value, as shown in the example to the right.{{sfn|Read|1969|loc=p. 114, ex. 8–11; p. 116, ex. 8–18; p. 117, ex. 8–20}}{{efn|If the base note is 1, then the ''x''th dot adds <math>1/2^x</math> the length (1/2, 1/4, 1/8, ...).}}

The use of dotted notes dates back at least to the 10th century, but the exact amount of lengthening a dot provides in early music contexts may vary. [[Mensural notation]] uses a '''dot of division''' to clarify ambiguities about its context-dependent interpretation of [[Note value|rhythmic values]], sometimes alongside the '''dot of [[augmentation (music)|augmentation]]''' as described above. In the [[gregorian chant]] editions of Solesmes, a dot is typically interpreted as a doubling of length (see also [[Neume]]).

Historical examples of music [[performance practice]]s using unequal rhythms include ''[[notes inégales]]'' and [[swing (jazz performance style)|swing]]. The precise performance of dotted rhythms can be a complex issue. Even in notation that employs dots, their performed values may be longer or shorter than the dot mathematically indicates, practices known as '''over-dotting''' or '''under-dotting'''.<ref>{{Cite Grove |last=Hefling |first=Stephen E. |title=Dotted rhythms}}</ref>