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Welcome to the Beginning Clarinet Songbook

Lesson 14: Rhythm
Dotted Quarter Notes

Follow the links below for more information on each song, as well as pictures and helpful links.

Song #1: How to Play Dotted Quarter Notes

Song #2: Journey of the Light Ship

Song #3: The Happy Horse Trot

Song #4: A New Day

Song #5: Clarobotoo Glides Over the Pacific Ocean and Wins the Race

Song #6: Flopsy the Whimsical Clown Flies Over the Finish Line an Hour Later

The elements of music in Lesson 14:

Sound: Pitches used in this lesson: Low G through B flat
Dynamics used in these pieces: forte, mezzo forte, mezzo piano, and piano
Accidentals: flats, sharps, and naturals
Rhythm: Time signatures used in this lesson: two-four, three-four, four-four
Note values used in this lesson: eighth notes, eighth rests, quarter notes, quarter rests, dotted quarter notes, half notes, half rests, dotted half notes, whole notes, and whole rests
Melody: phrases, breath marks, slurs
Harmony: Key signatures

In Lesson 4 you learned about dotted half notes. Half notes are not the only notes that can have dots, though. In this lesson we will go into more detail about what that dot means, and you will learn a new dotted note.

A dot placed to the right of a note head changes that note’s duration. Technically speaking, the dot means that we take the note value without the dot and tie it to half the value of that note. In the case of the dotted half note, it means that we tie a half note to a quarter note.

Our new note value in this lesson is the dotted quarter note. It is equal to a quarter note tied to an eighth note. Therefore, when the quarter note is equal to one beat, the dotted quarter note is equal to one and a half beats.

It is very important to count carefully and tap your foot to the beat when playing dotted quarter notes (or any rhythm for that matter). Use talking MetronomeBot to help yourself play the correct rhythms and keep a steady beat