Silence, sustain, and another attack

A missing attack is not always a rest

A rest asks for silence. A tie asks a note to continue without another attack. Both can leave the picking hand quiet, but the sound is different: stop the string for a rest; let it ring for a tie.

A tie joins durations of the same pitch. A slur connects different notes as a phrase or articulation instruction; it is not a way to add their lengths.

Hear what happens on beat 2

The first note either ends, continues, or is struck again. Keep counting through each version.

● attack · — hold · · silence. The quiet high click is the pulse.

Silence has written durations too

These rests last a half note, a quarter note, and an eighth note. Their time passes even though no pitch sounds.

A tie adds; a dot adds half

The tied quarters below make two beats with one attack. The dotted quarter lasts one and a half beats; the following eighth completes two.

Attack on 1 and the & of 2, then on 3

This is the attack pattern for a dotted quarter, an eighth, and a half note in 4/4. Select their starting positions. The exercise grades starts; your guitar assignment will add the sustained lengths.

Two tied eighth notes at the same pitch require how many attacks?

Takeaways

• A rest stops sound; a tie continues it; a dot adds half the original value.