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Rhythm Reading
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Lesson 24 Dotted half note in 4/4

  • Practice
  • 4/4
  • 60 bpm
  • 8 bars
  • 17 claps
60 bpm

About this exercise

The dotted half note moves to 4/4. Now it doesn't fill the whole bar: it lasts beats 1, 2 and 3, and a quarter note is left on beat 4. The shape "dotted half note + quarter note" appears in four of the eight bars, alternating with quarter notes, half notes and whole notes.

The point to watch is the clap on beat 4. After three beats of hands together, it must come exactly on the click, neither earlier (cutting the long note short) nor later. Count "1, 2, 3, 4" and listen to the metronome.

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How to play it

  1. Count-in: the site counts 1 bar before starting ("1 2 3 4"). Clap the first note on beat 1 of bar 1.
  2. Reading: read the line on the yellow strip and look ahead to the next one: that's how you read ahead.
  3. Hands together: on notes longer than 1 beat (half note, dotted half note and whole note) clap and keep your hands together until the end of the note: hands together = the sound keeps going.

How to practice

  1. Say the count out loud, without clapping, looking at the Bar by bar table.
  2. In Together mode, count and clap at the same time as the character.
  3. In Your turn mode, clap on your own. If it's hard, slow down and then come back.

Goal: ★★★ three times in a row at 60 bpm. Then the lesson is completed.

The full practice method →

Bar by bar

Bold = clap · (n) = don't clap, the sound keeps going (hands together) · [n] = rest, hands open.

Bar Notes Count
1 dotted half note, quarter note 1 (2) (3) 4
2 dotted half note, quarter note 1 (2) (3) 4
3 4 quarter notes 1 2 3 4
4 whole note 1 (2) (3) (4)
5 dotted half note, quarter note 1 (2) (3) 4
6 2 quarter notes, half note 1 2 3 (4)
7 dotted half note, quarter note 1 (2) (3) 4
8 whole note 1 (2) (3) (4)

Notes used: whole note, dotted half note, half note, quarter note.