8.--Following the time-signature come the notes. The guiding principle in writing these is that their right interpretation shall be apparent to the eye. Two points are of paramount importance. These are (1) the selection of the right characters (this of course only affects those who are writing original compositions or arrangements, not mere copists), and (2) the correct placing of these in the measure. The bare duration of a note, its merely arithmetical value, can generally be expressed in more ways than one. But this is not sufficient. That way must be selected which represents its _rhythm_, its correct accentuation, _to the eye_. Simple forms of time, as distinct from Compound, contain but few pitfalls, and even an inexperienced writer is not likely to go far wrong.
9.--It may be as well to warn such an one, however, that it is not nowadays customary to dot an unaccented note or rest. The dot in this case would represent the succeeding accented beat, and not represent it nearly as significantly as does a tied note or separate rest; compare a and b, Fig. 5.
10.--Tied notes should not be employed where a single note would represent the same sound _without misrepresenting the rhythm_. Their chief function is to represent durations which _cannot_ be represented by a single character, such as five eighth notes.
11.--In pianoforte music a note is very occasionally intended to be reiterated before the first iteration has ceased to sound. This is effected by allowing the key to rise sufficiently to release the hammer, but not sufficiently to reimpose the damper on the string. The second sound therefore overtakes the first. (It is comparatively easy on some pianos and very hard on others.) As the sound, though periodically reinforced, is continuous, the composer indicates his intention by a tie. There is nothing but one's judgment to distinguish this from the ordinary kind of tie. The chief indication is the employment of a tie where a single musical character would otherwise have been better. For instance, the following tied sixteenth notes from the Adagio of Beethoven's Sonata, Op. 106, could better have been represented by eighth notes, had it not been for the intention of overlapping iteration (Fig. 6).