Notes Without Rest

This week, I learned I need to land on the notes at exactly the right time so as to give the maximum value to the previous note, to let the resonance continue for the full duration. This diagram (below) of note values does not really convey the sound of a note. After playing the note, the listener should hear it for the length of the time the note dictates. That means that the player must allow the note to reach its full length before stopping it. Stop the note prematurely and you have essentially introduced a rest, which means you have changed the notation and the sound of the piece.

So, for instance, a half note, which normally looks like the note on the left, would, if its length were depicted, look like the one on the right.

What that means in playing the note is that once you play it, you shouldn't stop its sound prematurely. I was doing that by putting my finger on the string prior to playing it, in order to be prepared to pluck it at the appropriate time. Wrong! Putting my finger on it silenced it until I sounded the next note. So what I have to do instead is to prepare to pluck it without touching it, to pounce on the string at the last moment. Not easy, but more effective. I've been working on it and it's coming along.