Notation basics
Hi all, and thanks in advance.
Are these two notation variants equivalent and correct, or is, like in Animal Farm, one is more correct than the other.
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Comments
They're both technically correct, but the second one is more "standard" I guess.
As you are beaming your 4 1/8 notes together, it means that the "beat" has a duration of 1/2 note.
Therefore the first notation doesn't help reading the rhythm and the second one is better.
If, on the other hand, you were beaming your 1/8 notes by group of 2, then the beat would have a duration of 1/4 note.
In that case the first version (with no beam between note 2 and 3, just the tie) is better as it preserves the beat.
Still in that scenario where 1/8 notes are beamed by 2 (beat of 1/4 note): if your rhythm is repeated for several measures then prefer version 2 as it is lighter.
Yes it wouldn't preserve the beat but preserving the beat is mainly useful when all measures have a note on each beat and this one is a sudden exception. Then using tie to keep a note displayed on the beat helps reading. If that pattern is repeated for several measures then the musician can "enter" in that mood and the heavier notation with tie isn't necessary anymore.
In reply to As you are beaming your 4 1… by frfancha
"If, on the other hand, you were beaming your 1/8 notes by group of 2, then the beat would have a duration of 1/4 note.
In that case the first version (with no beam between note 2 and 3, just the tie) is better as it preserves the beat."
Actually, even in 4/4, or common time (C), the standard--and the default in MuseScore--is to beam eighth-notes in groups of four, unless there's a good reason not to. So version two would be correct. A quarter-note which spans beats 2 to 3 should always be two tied eighths, however.
I would say that 2 is the "normal" standard, at least in symphonic music.
The attached picture shows an example from Brahms 2nd symphony. As you can see, there is an exception when the syncopated note extend over two bars but this is obvious.
It is possible version 1 is more common in other music genres, e.g. in choir music or music for singing where flags are used rather than beams. This is for me as a violinist (amateur) rhythmically extremely disturbing.