Music Video Lesson: How to Feel Dotted Rhythms

Hi, I'm Robert Estrin. This is livingpianos.com. Today is a really useful tip, how to feel dotted rhythms. What does a dot to a note? That's a good question. A lot of people will say a dot after note adds half the value of the note. And that could be kind of confusing because if you have a quarter note, half of a quarter is an eighth, so a quarter plus an eighth and you going through these fractions. And particularly if you're a piano teacher teaching children, and you say, "How much is a quarter plus an eighth," you're going to get a glazed look on their eyes.

So another way of looking at what dots do to notes is to say that a dot after note adds the value of the next faster note. Why does this work? Because all the note values are half the value of each successive note. A whole note contains two half notes. A half note contains two quarter notes. A quarter note contains two eighth notes. An eighth note contains two sixteenth notes, on and on. So a dot on a whole note adds a half note to the whole note. A dot on a half note adds a quarter note to the half note. And a dot on a quarter note adds an eighth note, et cetera, et cetera. You got the idea. It's always adding the next faster note.

Now, another way of looking at this is a dot after a note adds the next faster note, but it also equals three of those notes. So if you have a dotted whole note, that equals a whole note plus a half note, that's a total of three half notes. Do you ever think about that? It's the same thing. A dotted half note equals a half note plus a quarter note, which is three quarter notes, on and on. Why am I bringing this up? Because a dotted rhythm usually means that you have a dotted note followed by the shorter note. So for example, if you have a dotted eighth note, that's an eighth note plus a sixteenth, which is once again three sixteenth notes. And usually it'll be a dotted eighth followed by a sixteenth. So you have three sixteenths basically tied together, followed by another sixteenth.

So counting in three, four time, for example, be it one and two and three, and one and two and three, and one. So for example, in Clementi 17 in G major was 36, the second movement has a dot a rhythm. One and a two and a three, and one and a two and a three, and a one. Two and a three, and a one and a two three. And you notice that's a mouthful, isn't it? Now you could have a metronome ticking and depending upon the tempo, if it was a fast enough tempo, imagine having those 16th notes ticking. If you were playing a fast tempo, it would be ungodly fast. Metronomes don't even typically go that fast. When I got this digital so I can put it on a really fast speed just so you can hear how ridiculous I'd be trying to count this fast. If these were 16th notes, trying to play with that is hard.

I'm not even sure I was totally on the whole time because it's insane. And if you're trying to count, one and a two and a three and a one and a two a. So what can you do about that to make it easier? I've got to hack, a dotted rhythm hack. Before I give it to you though, I want to show you what the danger is with dotted rhythms. The dotted rhythm is a total of four subdivisions, three plus 1. 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, or one and a two and a three and a, or one E and the two E and the three E and the, if you prefer.

So it can be very easy for your rhythm to degenerate into a triple division like in six, eight time, for example, having a quarter followed by an eighth. A quarter note of course contains two eighth notes. So this would be a total of three divisions, two plus one, instead of the three plus one that dotted rhythm is as I explained earlier. So a six eight, if this is written in three eight, let's say, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1. And if we went faster, you can hear that it's a very different rhythm.

So how do you get the precision of 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1 so it doesn't sound like 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1? Listen to the difference. I'm going to play it wrong as a triple division first.

Compared to the correct rhythm, which it goes like this.

So the question is, how do you do that without having to count one E and a two E and a three E ,and driving yourself a little bit nuts? Not only that, but if you subdivide like that in your head, it's likely that it'll be difficult for you to maintain the tempo because thinking, where's the pulse? You want a pulse to be the beat. So watch, instead of having this craziness going here, suppose you put that with just the eighth note sticking. So I put this on half that speed now, and now listen what happens if I play and the second tick, I just have to remember that the 16th comes halfway between.

But I've got another further little trick for you. Put it even at half the speed of that and just have the second eighth of each beat ticking. And listen how easy it is then to just have the 16th come between the tick and the next note. Watch what I'm talking about. One. One.

By having that eighth note, that's the pulse you have to feel in order to fit the dotted rhythm in so it's not approximate and it doesn't degenerate into a triple feel. Dee-da-dee-da da-da-dee-da-dee-da-da. Instead: Dee-da dee-da-da, not, dee-dee-da-dee-dee-dee-da-dee-da-dee. Dee-da dee-da-da-da-dee.

Get the feel of that. That's the hat, dee-da-dee, even if the rhythm is faster, tick. So that's the way to feel dotted rhythms, feel that second eighth and just fit the 16th between the second eighth and the next beat. I hope this makes sense to you. If you're trying this on your own, I suggest first have eighth notes ticking and practice just by clapping. Put the metronome on at an eighth note ticking, and then fit the dotted rhythm where it belongs.

So I'm going to put this back on that same speed I had before and we'll listen to that.

And then once again, with only one of the beats ticking, if this you find this helpful, you can try this.

So that's the doted rhythm tip for the day. I hope it's helpful for you. Let me know in the comments here in living pianos.com and YouTube. Again, I'm Robert Estrin @livingpianos.com, your online piano resource. Thanks for joining me. We'll look forward to seeing you next time.

Find the original source of this video at this link: https://livingpianos.com/how-to-feel-dotted-rhythms/

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