Lesson 29: Tied Notes and Syncopation
- Hold tied notes across a bar line without another tongue stroke.
- Keep a steady beat while notes start between beats.
A tie is a curved line joining the same pitch: add both note lengths without tonguing again. Unlike a slur, it makes one held sound. Syncopation stresses a weak beat or the space between beats.
Count all four beats in each bar while holding through the tie.
Clap while counting “1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and”, then play; keep counting through long notes.
Play: Come By Here — complete first verse
In Cutting’s transcription of Wylie’s singing, learn one bar at a time, then join pairs without breaking the eight ties.
Source: Jennifer Cutting, Library of Congress; uniformly up m3.
Now play these
- Kumbaya — Come By Here
- Complete first verse and exact extracts.
- Joshua — Brown 1925
- Complete vocal part; review the low chromatic note from Lesson 22.
- Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen
- Complete Burleigh vocal part; count its introductory rests.
- Home on the Range — complete verse and chorus
- Keep three pulses through all five ties.
When the drill’s ties stay smooth across bar lines and the verse keeps a steady beat, move on to Lesson 30.