One or many dots may be placed on the right side of a note. The dot extends the duration of the note by half the note value. Each extra dot extends the duration of the note by half the preceding dot value.

A dot may be placed after a note or a rest. It is mostly common to find dotted figures in compound time. Dotted figures are often used in subdivisions of a beat or to represent a grouping of beats, such as a dotted half representing three quarter notes, or, as in compound time, the beat itself. The dotted figures should be used in such a way that the divisions of the beats are easy to read.