lesson
Tied Notes
Now let’s take a look at tied notes. A tie is a curved line that connects two notes of the same pitch. The first note is played and held for the count of both notes (the second note is held but not played.) Ties are primarily used for notes that are held into another measure.
A whole note tied to a half note is held for 6 beats: 4 beats for the whole note plus 2 beats for the half note. A half note tied to a quarter note is held for 3 beats: 2 beats for the half note plus 1 beat for the quarter note.
Try the song below. Remember to hold the tied notes, not play them.
Notice the two symbols at the end of the song. They are rests. You will learn about them later. For now, just stop playing when you reach them.
Multiple Ties
Here is another song using tied notes. However, in this melody there are places where three notes are tied together. When three notes are tied together you continue to hold the first note for the value of all three notes. In this case we have a whole note (4 beats), a half note (2 beats), and a quarter note (1 beat) tied together. So we play the whole note and hold it for 7 beats (4 beats + 2 beats + 1 beat = 7 beats.)
links
Audio Files
- When The Saints Go Marching In
- Against The Tied
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Printable Music Notation Files
- When The Saints Go Marching In
- Against The Tied
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Music Notation 6
- Third String Notes
- This lesson was adapted from my book: Better Guitar Method Book 1, which is available at:
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