1/8 notes

• Jan 7, 2011 - 15:12

Hi,
In 4/4 time, I am trying to write two 1/8 notes for every beat in a measure. When I write two 1/8 notes for the first beat, they are joined together with a bar (which if fine). When I write the first 1/8 note of the second beat, it jumps left and attaches to the first two 1/8 notes, creating a tuplet. Can anyone advise me of what I am doing wrong and how to correct it? Thanks,
Dave


Comments

Seems to me if you plan to add two eighths on every beat, they *should* all be beamed together - either in groups of fours or eighths (for 4/4 time). So it's just waiting for you to add the fourth note. If you really do want to break beams every beat, you can indeed use the beam tool, but unless you have a special reason for doing so, you shouldn't. Only case here you'd need it in this situation is if you wanted three eighths and and eighth rest - in that case, it's not necessarily appropriate to beam the first three eighths together.

In reply to by ceegers

Probably so. It's kind of like English grammar - there are different "style guides" out there. A common convention says that an eighth rest followed by three beamed eighth notes is OK, but not the reverse. I guess the idea being that the initial rest is an immediate clue that the beamed eighth notes that follow are not triplets.

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