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The Common ToneWhere the Sacred and the Profane Share the Same Cup
The Common Tone · Visual Language of Music
Augmentation Dot A small round dot placed immediately to the right of a notehead.

Augmentation Dot

also called: dot · rhythm dot · dotted note

A small dot just to the right of a notehead or rest that makes it longer — adding half of its written value.

What you do

Hold the note (or count the rest) for one-and-a-half times its normal length. A dotted half note lasts three beats instead of two; a dotted quarter lasts a beat and a half. A second dot adds half of the first dot's value again.

In context

Augmentation Dot — example Two engraved measures in four-four. The first holds a dotted half note — a small dot just right of the notehead — followed by one quarter note; the second holds a whole note. Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439
The dot after the half note adds half its value again: three beats instead of two, leaving exactly one beat for the quarter that completes the bar.

Don’t confuse with

staccato
The staccato dot sits ABOVE or BELOW the notehead and makes the note SHORTER; the augmentation dot sits BESIDE it (to the right) and makes it longer. Position is everything.

See also

staccato · tie

For specialists

SMuFL: augmentationDot
Record status: draft — verification pending (bookshelf locators + chord-symbol authority; OQ-1 blocks the slice gate)