Chapter Two: Note and Rest Values

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BORROWED NOTE DIVISIONS

Other note divisions and subdivisions are possible. BORROWED DIVISIONS are possible when the division of an undotted note is applied to a dotted note (or visa versa). The result of an unnatural division is a tuplet figure: a duplet, triplet, quadruplet, etc.

The following chart demonstrates various divisions and subdivisions of dotted and undotted notes. Notice that each of the BORROWED DIVISIONS require a number to be associated with each of them. POINT (Don't click) YOUR MOUSE at the NATURAL DIVISIONS and SUBDIVISIONS of each note value and READ THE STATUS BAR message at the bottom of your window.

 
UNIT
 
In any meter signature, the note that represents the duration of the beat is call the UNIT. The UNIT in simple meter is always an undotted note (like in the left column above). The UNIT in compound meter is always a dotted note (like in the right column above). We will speak more about simple and compound meters in Chapters Three and Four.
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