(musTh1) More on Rhythmic Notation, Beaming, and Ties

Just to keep things simple, here are a few things to remember about rhythmic notation:

• Beginning of beats should be shown with a new note value, tied to the previous note if necessary, but not beamed to a previous note.*
• Beams stay within one beat.**

*This rule means that note values do not generally start off the beat and carry over the beginning of the next beat. Break up the rhythmic value using ties. There are only two exceptions: a note can start on a strong beat and carry over a weak beat, and standard syncopation patterns that are easily recognizable.

**This rule is related to the first. Break beams at the beat. The exception to this rule are two-beat patterns that start strong and carry through weak beats (entirely through the weak beat), and two-beat patterns that are both weak beats (3/4: q, e-e-e-e, with the eighths beamed).