Chapter 6: More Notation and Rhythms

Introducing Eighth Notes

Continuing our work from Chapter 3, where we started to look at different note lengths (quarter notes, half notes, etc.), we're next going to look at the eighth note, which lasts for half a beat.

The eighth note is written with a black (or “filled in”) notehead, a long stem attached, and either a “flag” if the note is by itself, or a “beam” if the note is joined to other notes. Sometimes the beam may join two eighth notes together within one beat, or the beam may join four eighth notes within two successive beats.

The next example shows the various ways eighth notes could be notated (flags and beams) as a demonstration, but normally, the entire example would be notated as in the second measure. Later on, we will learn the reasons for using flags and different beam groups. For now, let's play some eighth notes!

Notice the rhythmic counting underneath the staff, which now uses an “&” between each of the beat numbers. “And” (&) is what we count for notes that fall halfway between the beat.

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Listen to track 7 and then play this eighth-note pattern while counting along. As usual, you have one “count-off measure” before the music starts, and the click is on every quarter-note beat. This means that you will be playing in between the clicks when playing on the “&'s,” as shown above.

In situations where eighth notes are used, the notes falling on the beats (i.e., on 1, 2, 3, or 4) are referred to as downbeats, and the notes falling on the “&'s,” in between, are referred to as upbeats. Also, the eighth note following beat 1 is referred to as the “‘and' of 1.” The eighth note following beat 2 is referred to as the “‘and' of 2,” and so on. So now you know…

So why are these guys called “eighth notes?” Well, we saw in Chapter 3 that note lengths were named according to what fraction they used of a 4/4 measure (for example, a quarter note takes up a quarter of a 4/4 measure). So an eighth note (lasting half of one beat) takes up one-eighth of a 4/4 measure. Eighth notes may also be beamed (or joined) to other smaller note values, such as sixteenth notes (more about sixteenths soon).

Introducing Dotted Notes

Now we will go boldly into the realm of dotted notes! Whenever a dot is placed after a note, it adds half as much again to the rhythmic value or length (or if you're a math whiz, it multiplies the existing length by 1.5). Let's check out the following example:

Without the dot, the first note above would just be a half note (lasting for 2 beats). But with the addition of the dot, we add half as much again to the original length, so the note now lasts for 3 beats. Similarly, without the dot, the second note would just be a quarter note (lasting for 1 beat). But with the dot, we add half as much again to the original length, so the note now lasts for 1½ beats.

Next, we will see some typical ways in which these dotted notes can be used in a melody. If we use a dotted half note together with a quarter note (1 beat), the resulting total of four beats will fill a 4/4 measure. If we use a dotted quarter note (1½ beats) together with an eighth note (½ a beat), the resulting total of two beats could occupy the first or second half of a 4/4 measure. These are extremely common rhythmic combinations, as shown in this sample melody:

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Play this eighth-note rhythm pattern and melody using the right hand C Position, while counting along. Listen to track 8 to “check your work,” (did you play it evenly and count correctly?) and then play along.

It's good practice to count all of the eighth notes (i.e., 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &, etc.) in this example as you play it, even though you are not playing on all of these rhythmic subdivisions. That way your rhythm will be correct and even, and when an eighth note comes along (for example, the F in the second measure), you'll be ready for it!

Now it's time for our first song using eighth notes and dotted notes, “Alouette.” This time you get to use two hands, though not at the same time (yet!). Each hand is in C Position as you've learned in previous chapters, and the song is written on the grand staff (right hand on the upper treble staff, and left hand on the lower bass staff). Make sure to follow the fingering numbers next to each note. This song is not recorded, so count carefully. It is good practice to write in the counting for all songs you play, especially when you're learning. The first line has been done for you, but you may pencil in the rest. Go on… you can do it!

Introducing Tied Notes

Now we're ready to look at tied notes. When two notes of the same pitch are joined by a curved line, they are tied together. This means that the second note is not played. Instead, the first note lasts for the combined length of both notes.

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Listen to track 9 and play the above eighth-note rhythm pattern while counting along. Notice that the C on the “and” of 4 in the first measure, lasts right up until the start of beat 2 in the second measure. In other words, this tied note lasts for one-and-a-half beats.

The previous example shows the most common situation where a tie is needed in the music: when the note length is longer than the remaining number of beats in the measure. In this case, the last C in the first measure falls on the “and” of 4 (so there is only half a beat left in the measure) and yet we need the note to last for one-and-a-half beats. So, tying across the bar line to the quarter note in the next measure neatly solves this problem.

In the next example, we have a tied note on the “and” of 2, receiving a total duration of one and a half beats. We also have a tied note on beat 4, which lasts for two beats. Remember not to play the second note in tied notes—just hold it!

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Try playing and counting the above example, and then listen to track 10 to see if you got it right. Listen one more time while playing along.

“But wait!” I hear you cry, “Why did we need that first tie! Couldn't we have just used a dotted quarter note (which lasts for one-and-a-half beats) starting on the ‘and' of 2 in the first measure? There's no bar line anywhere in sight!” Whoa, calm down a minute! The reason we did it this way is to show the start of beat 3. That is to say, whether or not we are actually playing on beat 3, it is very good practice and courtesy to show a note or rest right on the beat when the note begins in between the beat. This greatly aids sight-reading, as we can then quickly scan through the music and pick out beats 1 and 3 (sometimes called the primary beats) in 4/4 time. If you're ever preparing charts for other musicians, maybe to demo or perform your own songs, they will definitely appreciate it if you do this!

The Eighth Rest

Back in Chapter 3 we saw how to write rests equal to quarter, half, and whole notes. Now we'll get acquainted with the eighth rest (which as you might expect, lasts for half a beat):

Next we'll look at another melody that includes some eighth notes and rests:

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Note the counting under the staff, and the new eighth rests (each lasting for half a beat) in measures 1 and 3.

Play the above example while counting, then listen to track 11. As before, make sure that you don't play during the rests.

When learning new rhythms, try clapping and counting them first, before you play them on the piano.

Eighth-Note Triplets

But wait, there's more stuff we can do with eighth notes. We can combine them into “triplets!” This means that, instead of fitting just two eighth notes into the space of one beat, we now squeeze three eighth notes into the same space:

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Listen to track 12 to hear the sound of eighth-note triplets. You'll hear three notes for each metronome tick. Try counting “1 trip-let 2 trip-let” etc., along with this rhythm, as evenly as you can.

Notice that each set of three eighth notes is beamed together, and that the number “3” is shown above each group. The “3” tells you that this grouping note is a triplet, and not just ordinary eighth notes.

“Straight Eighths” vs. “Swing Eighths”

Next, we have an interesting and useful variation of the previous example. Here we're not playing on the middle (second) part of each triplet, just on the first and third parts:

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Listen to track 13 and compare it to track 12. It sounds similar, except that the middle note of each triplet is “missing.” If you were counting it “1 trip-let, 2 trip-let” etc., like track 12, there would be no note falling on the “trip-” syllable. To simplify the counting, we could count it as “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &” as shown above, but compared to the earlier examples of eighth-note counting in this chapter, each “&” is now later in the beat than before (no longer exactly halfway between the beats). The “&” is now two-thirds of the way through each beat because of the triplet rhythms.

This is where “swing” comes into play. When we want this swing style to be played, instead of going through the trouble of writing out two notes with the triplet sign (the “3” inside the bracket) above each time, as in the previous example, we could just write plain old eighth notes and just play them differently. The first eighth gets held longer (like the quarter note under the triplet sign), and the second eighth is shorter (like the second eighth note under the triplet sign).

So, how do we know when to play the “even” eighth notes, and when to play the uneven “swing” eighth notes? If the song is to be played swing style, it will be indicated with the word(s) “swing” or “swing eighths” above the time signature, where the tempo would be placed. In the next example, we have the same rhythm twice. The first one will be played “straight,” with even eighth notes. In the second rhythm, we add the “swing eighths” indication above, telling us that this should be played with uneven eighths, like the triplet rhythms we saw earlier.

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This symbol is telling us to play each pair of eighth notes as if it were a quarter note-eighth note triplet,” in other words, to divide each beat in a two-thirds/one-third manner (rather than half-and-half). It's very good practice to begin applying straight and swing-eighths feels to different songs… have fun with this!

Listen to track 14, and notice that Part 1 is played in a straight-eighths style, with each pair of eighth notes dividing the beat exactly in half. In Part 2 the eighth notes are swung, played as if each pair of eighth notes were a quarter note-eighth note triplet, resulting in all the upbeats or “&'s” falling two-thirds of the way through each beat.

If you're at all interested in playing styles such as pop, rock, and jazz, you need to know this! The swing-eighths feel is present in many styles, and you need to know how to get things swingin' when you see this indication in the music.

Usually, if eighth notes are to be played straight, there is no indication of this; you should just assume to play them straight unless you see the “swing eighths” indication. However, occasionally, if you're playing out of a jazz book where most of the music is in swing style, the indication “straight eighths” might be used for a straight tune, to help distinguish it from all the other swinging music.
Also, regardless of how we treat the eighth notes (straight or swing), remember that the downbeats (i.e., beats 1, 2, 3, and 4, in 4/4 time) do not move. We are simply moving the upbeats (or “&s”) in between these downbeats.

In addition to the “Swing eighths” indication at the top, sometimes “Shuffle” is used, or we can use this symbol:

This symbol is telling us to play each pair of eighth notes as if it were a quarter note-eighth note triplet,” in other words, to divide each beat in a two-thirds/one-third manner (rather than
half-and-half). It’s very good practice to begin applying straight- and swing-eighths feels to different songs… have fun with this!

Introducing Dotted Eighth Notes

OK, we're not quite done with eighth notes yet. We can also place a “dot” after them, which as you might expect, adds half as much again to the length of the note (increasing the length to three-quarters of a beat):

We saw earlier that a dotted quarter note often gets together with an eighth note to create a two-beat unit. In a similar way, we can combine a dotted eighth note with a sixteenth note, to create a one-beat unit. “Wait. What is a sixteenth note?” Good question…

Introducing Sixteenth Notes

The sixteenth note lasts for a quarter of a beat and is written with a black (or “filled in”) notehead, a long stem attached, and either a double “flag” if the note is by itself, or a double beam if the note is joined to other notes. Sometimes the beams may join a pair of sixteenth notes together, or the beams may join all of the sixteenth notes within one beat.

Now that we're dividing the beat into 4 pieces, we need a different counting method. This new addition to our rhythmic counting includes the three symbols “e,” “&,” and “a” between each of the beat numbers:

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Listen to track 15 and play the above sixteenth-note rhythm pattern while counting aloud. Now there are four notes for every metronome click. Try to space the notes as evenly as possible between the downbeats.

Just a minute ago we talked about combining sixteenth notes with dotted eighth notes. Here's a melody that does just that:

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Listen to track 16 and play this dotted-eighth–sixteenth-note rhythm pattern and melody while using the right hand C Position, counting along.

It's good practice to count all of the sixteenth notes (1 e & a 2 e & a, etc.) in this example as you play it, even though you are not playing on all of these rhythmic subdivisions. This way, everything will be evenly spaced, and when a sixteenth note comes along (i.e., the D in the first measure) you'll be ready for it!

The Sixteenth Rest

Next, we'll get acquainted with the sixteenth rest, which as you might expect, lasts for a quarter of a beat:

This rest looks like the eighth rest, except that it has two flags instead of one.

Finally, in this chapter, we'll look at a melody that combines quarter notes and quarter rests, eighth notes and eighth rests, and sixteenth notes and sixteenth rests:

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Note the counting under the staff and the new sixteenth rests (each lasting for a quarter of a beat) in both measures.

Listen to track 17 and play the example while counting along. As before, make sure that you don't play during the rests. Have fun!