THE SINGERS TOOLKIT
An Incomplete Guide for Baffled Choral Singers
Time Values
The appearance of a notes tells HOW LONG IT LASTS compared to other notes (Its TIME VALUE).
A SEMIBREVE (UK)
WHOLE NOTE (US)
![](images/semibreve.jpg)
lasts as long as two
MINIMS (UK)
HALF NOTES (US)
![](images/2minims.jpg)
Here is a clip which starts with semibreves and then moves into minims.
A
MINIM lasts as long as two
CROTCHETS (UK)
QUARTER NOTES (US)
![](images/2crotchets.jpg)
Here is a clip which begins with minims, moves into crotchets, and then ends with a minim.
A
CROTCHET lasts as long as two
QUAVERS (UK)
EIGHTH NOTES (US)
![](images/Quavers1.jpg)
or
![](images/Quavers2.jpg)
or
![](images/Quavers3.jpg)
or
![](images/Quavers4.jpg)
Here is a clip which begins with crotchets, moves into quavers, then ends with a minim.
A
QUAVER lasts as long as two
SEMIQUAVERS (UK)
SIXTEENTH NOTES (US)
![](images/Semiquavers1.jpg)
or
![](images/Semiquavers2.jpg)
or
![](images/Semiquavers3.jpg)
or
![](images/Semiquavers4.jpg)
This clip starts in quavers, moves into semiquavers, then ends with a crotchet.
Here is a clip which begins in semibreves, moves into minims, crotchets, quavers, semiquavers, and then ends with a crotchet.
It make no difference to the time value whether the tails point up or down,or whether they are joined or not. The decision to place a tail up/down is done purely for the appearance, or to
distinguish between different parts (soprano or alto, tenor or bass) sharing the same stave.
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Triplets & Duplets
Occasionally, beats are not divided into 2 or 4 but into 3. These are then called TRIPLETS and indicated thus:
The triplet quavers last as long as two normal quavers, and the triplet crotchets last as long as two normal crotchets
Here is a clip which begins in normal quavers, and then moves into triplets, ending with a crotchet.
If the basic beat is already divided into 3 (we'll come to this later), it's possible to have a DUPLET, which is two equal notes in the time of three.
![](images/Duplets.jpg)
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Ties
Notes can be
TIED together to make a longer note
IF THEY ARE AT THE SAME PITCH (on the same line or space).
![](images/Ties.jpg)
You add together the value of each note to get the value of the single tied note.
If they are
NOT AT THE SAME PITCH, they are
SLURS (which mean: sing smoothly.)
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Dots
A
DOT after a note makes it
50% LONGER.
![](images/Dot2.jpg)
A
DOUBLE DOT makes it 75%
LONGER.
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Staccato and Pauses
The sound of a note may be
clipped by a
STACCATO DOT (a bit clipped) or
WEDGE (very clipped - staccatissimo).
![](images/staccato.jpg)
This creates little silences between the notes so that the notes still fall on the beat.
Here is a clip which moves from
smooth (legato), to
staccato, to
staccatissimo notes.
It looks like this:
![](images/Staccatissimo.jpg)
and sounds like this:
You will note that, despite staccato and staccatissimo, the beat remains absolutely regular.
.
The amount of clipping is up to the performer. There is no notation which exactly expresses how much staccato.
A note can be lengthened by a
PAUSE (Fermata).
![](images/pause.jpg)
The amount of lengthening is up to the performer. There is no notation which exactly expresses how much to pause.
Pauses disturb the regular flow of the beats.
Here is a clip with a pause on every fourth note.
It is written like this:
![](images/ThreePauses.jpg)
and sounds like this:
Pauses can last a long time (several seconds). It's all up to the conductor.
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Rests
RESTS are used for
silences. These, too, have time values and can be dotted.
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