Why is this notated like this?

[dangevans]

When something is syncopated and not on the beat, you will see it written like this instead. Probably, they feel that a quarter note right there could confuse people.
Keep on reading! I used this very same book to help me become a pretty good music reader on bass.

 

[Mr Cheese]

It actually doesn't, and yes you can ... but imagining the split in the middle of the measure and writing the way it was done in the example does make things easier to read for most people.

Of course things get trickier if you're writing in 3/4, 5/4, 7/4, etc, because those don't have midpoints falling on downbeats.

I told you not to quote me.

 

[radmin]

I read exclusively the first 13 years of playing.
That is a common way to notate that rhythm.

It's much easier to recognize and play correctly as your eye scans ahead while playing written that way.
IMO

 

[devnulljp]

I was always told that, when writing arrangements, to imagine that there’s a bar line between beats 2 and 3; any note held over that imaginary bar line should be written as two notes tied together.
It’s not done universally, but when it is, it’s a heckuva lot easier to read the rhythms!

Never heard that before, but it makes perfect sense. Learned something useful today, thanks!

 

[drumvsbass]

Is it because the second tied note falls on beat 3, and that’s their way of indicating the third beat in 4/4 time?

Yes. Though more interesting is why they used a quarter note for exactly the same thing right next to it... Could be a mistake, could be the software that the chart was made on made an error. My understanding of written music is rusty at best, but, I think when writing a score one would like to keep the quarter note cells in 4/4 time separate for ease of reading. Hence the tie between two 'cells' as it were. If that makes any sense. The score is informational.

 

[Febs]

Yes. Though more interesting is why they used a quarter note for exactly the same thing right next to it... Could be a mistake, could be the software that the chart was made on made an error. My understanding of written music is rusty at best, but, I think when writing a score one would like to keep the quarter note cells in 4/4 time separate for ease of reading. Hence the tie between two 'cells' as it were. If that makes any sense. The score is informational.

See my post earlier in the thread. When the smallest division of time in a measure is an eighth note, you keep half note cells separate rather than quarter note cells. That's why the quarter note that's on the upbeat of one is notated as a quarter note, but the quarter note on the upbeat of two is notated as two tied eighth notes.

 

[ZedLepp]

I think it like:
Color / Colour
Center / Centre
Humor / Humour
etc, etc.......

 

[Whousedtoplay]

It’s the Imaginary Bar Line Rule. Which is not really a rule, but a convention that some people follow to make it more obvious which notes are syncopated.
Imaginary Barlines in Musical Notation – Berklee Online Take Note

From your Berklee web-site.

P.S. The rhythmic phrase from the OP's posting is similar to Berklee's Bar Line Rule.

 

[SteveCS]

 

[wazzel]

It could be to maintain rhythmic consistency with other parts that are moving. I also play sax and have seen the second alto parts written like this to stay consistent with the moving first alto part. Makes it easier to read on the score. Could be the keys has the same rhythm, but with moving notes.

 

[kevindahl]

Sorry I have not read through the replies. In 4/4 the measures are divided by 2 beats and 2 beats. If you look at any notation you will see this. This is done because it's easier to read. Making that a quarter note would cross that imaginary 2 beat line.

Someone has probably explained better than myself

 

[2cooltoolz]

I love Talkbass!

 

[MrBass617]

In SITSOM’s (Standing in the Shadows of Motown) notation for Marvin Gaye’s & Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, there is a tie connecting two eight notes of the same pitch (G#), in the middle of a few quarter notes of the same pitch.

I always thought with a tie, you would hold the first note for the duration of all of the tied notes, which would make this essentially a quarter note... But there are already quarter notes surrounding this, so why is this one notated differently? Is it played differently?

Is it because the second tied note falls on beat 3, and that’s their way of indicating the third beat in 4/4 time?

View attachment 4278777

edited to revise uploaded image

It is notated that way to infer that the beat happens on the second (tied) eighth, to make the syncopation easier to read. It is not notated to be played differently.

 

[TheReceder]

To the OP... good topic... thanks to your question I'm one smarter today.

Now I can go another month without having to learn anything.

 

[deste]

It makes the syncopation a bit easier to read. The tied eighth is on the third beat of the bar.

That's it. Just a way to make sigh reading easier by dividing the bar in two (or in four, or in three if it's in 3/4).

 

[deste]

It’s the Imaginary Bar Line Rule. Which is not really a rule, but a convention that some people follow to make it more obvious which notes are syncopated.
Imaginary Barlines in Musical Notation – Berklee Online Take Note

Very interesting! You US folks have always success in explaining things in the easier way...

 

[SLO Surfer]

So why the slur? Because the notes before the slur take care of beats one and two, and after the slur you have beats three and for. The slur...

the example the author of this post shared does not show any “slurs,” but rather “ties.” Slurs connect notes of different pitches, while a tie connects notes of the same pitch making the rhythmic value longer.

Just had to stop by to point out Slur and Tie lines look very similar, but are indeed very different. Otherwise I agree with everything you say!

 

[Lownote38]

I was always taught to write things out in groupings by beat. If the original example were done that way, almost everything would have ties, and doing it the way the example shows would be sloppy. Either divide by beat, in this case quarter notes, or don't. This example combines methods in a senseless way.

 

[Maki_Randy]

It's to emphasize that it's a 4/4 time signature. You see this in a lot of pieces. It makes it much easier to read. If I would transcribe it I would use al 4th notes and my teacher would correct me just for this reason. It's like reading a piece in 6/8 noted as 2 groups of 3 8th notes and not 3 groups of 2 8th notes. It makes it easier to read and to feel the notes and time....

 

[GreyBeard]

I would have notated all the quarter notes in that measure as tied eighth notes. Makes it easier to realize that they come on the up beat.