Tied Notes

In depth

Tied-note syncopation creates its effect through the absence of attack. When a note sustains through beat 3 or the downbeat, the ear expects an attack that never comes — instead it hears the continuation of the previous note. This is particularly powerful at bar lines: a note starting on beat 4 and tying into beat 1 of the next bar creates a strong metric displacement. It's foundational in classical part-writing and ubiquitous in R&B and gospel.

How to identify it

• 1Listen for a beat where you expect an attack but instead hear continuation of a previous note
• 2The effect is a kind of 'hiccup' or gap where the beat should be
• 3Most obvious at bar lines — if beat 1 is 'missing', it may be tied from the previous bar
• 4Look (in notation) or listen for long notes that begin on off-beats

Train this type

Famous examples

Often confused with