There are ways of altering existing Note Values to increase there length. One of these ways is to put a dot to the right of the head of a note, doing this increases the notes value by half. So for example, if you were to see a Crotchet with a dot (an image is shown lower down on this page) next to it. A Crotchet by itself lasts for one beat. Half of that would be 1/2 a beat, which is added to the original value making a dotted crotchet last 1 and a half beats. The same logic can be applied to any note value. Listed below are the three most common of these.
Dotted Crotchet
A dotted crotchet lasts for one and a half beats.
Dotted Quaver
A dotted quavers lasts for three quarters of a beat.
Dotted Minim
A dotted minim lasts for three beats.
You may also be interested in our lesson on ties.
