Tied Rhythms

Also what happens in this one:

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The tie doesn't end on a note, so is it tied for the whole bar?[/img]

Ok, both examples show ties - but they also show other things written in similar ways.

A tie is a curved line between a note and a note of the same pitch. There are only two notes involved in a tie (if you want to tie three notes, you have TWO ties - one to tie first note to second, one to tie second note to third).

Now taking a close look at your first example, you have three things going on...

At the end of the first measure, the E note is tied to the E note that begins the second measure. That E note is then slurred to a D note... on the guitar, that's normally done with a pull-off, so you'd play the E at 2nd string 5th fret, and pull it off to the third fret. The D note that you're slurring into is tied to a quarter note, so the D lasts for 1-1/2 beats.

Finally, you have a legato line over the entire phrase. Legato is Italian for "tied together", and it means the phrase is to be played without separation between the notes - one note should flow into the next. For the guitar there's no practical difference - one note slurred to a second note is automatically legato - but that's not true for other instruments; a wind player, for example, is reminded that they can't take a breath during that phrase.

Great, thanks NoteBoat that makes a lot more sense to me now. However, in relation to the second example I can't see what the legato line adds to the last bar? Am I still missing something?

In the last bar, the legato line begins with G. So there shouldn't be a separation between G, B, and A - they should flow smoothly together.

Maintaining a good legato tone is sometimes difficult. Let's say you were playing this in second position, because of the earlier E-D slur; you've got the G note on the 5th fret of the 4th string. Next you'd play the B - 4th fret of the 3rd string. Because of the legato line, you'd have to be careful not to dampen the G note until the B is struck, so they'd blend smoothly together.

A lot of guitar exercises will tell you to leave your fingers down until you absolutely need to move them. In part, that's to develop legato technique - if you're in the habit of lifting one finger as you put the next one down, you'll end up with a slight separation between G and B. Maybe not so much that the phrase would be considered staccato, but certainly enough separation to lose the legato sense.