Dots

Table of Contents

Augmentation
Articulation
Divisi
On Symbols and Clefs
Other Uses

AUGMENTATION DOTS

Purpose: To add to a note's duration by half the value of the note.

Placement: 1 space to the right of the note.

If the note has a flag, the dot is placed to the right of the flag's tail.

The dot is always placed in a space; if the note is on a line, the dot is placed in the space above the line.

If there is an interval of a second, the positions of the dots in the chord may have to be altered.

When 2 voices share a staff and their stems go in opposite directions, the dots of the upper voices are placed in the spaces above the noteheads, and the dots of the lower voices are placed in the spaces below the noteheads.

Do not separate a dot from its notehead.

Do not place the dot below a flag's tail, if the stem is normal length.

In simple time, never use augmentation dots with whole, half or quarter rests (the only possible exception is at the beginning of a measure in 2/4 or 4/4, or at the beginning of the second half of a measure in 4/4).

Second and third dots should be placed 1/2 space away from the first dot, horizontally aligned with the first dot.