On Monday, August 4, 2003, at 06:54 PM, Christopher BJ Smith wrote:
At 1:10 PM -0400 8/04/03, Darcy James Argue wrote:And I'm conflicted about what to do with long quarter notes on the and of one or the and of three. Obviously, if the rhythm is eighth-quarter-eighth, it's not a good idea to make it four eighths with the middle pair tied -- that's both overly fussy and harder to read. But if it's eighth *rest* - quarter - eighth, for the sake of consistency I should probably make that eighth rest - eighth tied to eighth - eighth, so that the entry on the offbeat is a flagged eighth note. But I haven't actually been doing that -- I've been going with eighth rest - quarter - eighth -- just out of force of habit, I >> guess.
That's what I would do, as following the Rule of Four does not require you to mark the second beat by tying two eighth notes.
Oh, I know. The "Rule of Four" is also just fine with a dotted eighth on the and of one and the and of three, as well, but I don't like those. I find they tend to be stumbling blocks for sight-reading. My theory is that players get used to seeing an entry on an offbeat as a flagged eighth -- since most of the time, that's how it shows up, and so it becomes a handy visual shorthand even though it can sometimes lead you astray. When players are tired, distracted, or otherwise not concentrating (and how often does *that* happen? [grin]), when their entrance is on a quarter (or a dotted quarter) on the and of one or the and of three, they tend to assume it's an onbeat at first glance, and some of 'em usually flub it. At least, that's my experience -- which is why I prefer to break those figures up with a tie, even though it's not strictly necessary.
- Darcy
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