Tie (music)

[1]A writer in 1901, said that the following definition is preferable to the previous: A tie is a curved line connecting two notes of the same pitch, to show that the second is a continuation of the first.

... Our modern tie-mark, first systematically used in the early sixteenth century [Baroque music], is a curved line that connects the two successive note-heads indicating, together, the total time value desired.

... Ties are normally employed to join the time-value of two notes of identical pitch.

The tie first appeared in 1523 in the Recerchari, motetti, canzoni by Marco Antonio Cavazzoni.

Many early pianists, like Beethoven, used the tie in many pieces to show the demand of gentle reiteration.

Dotted note notation and the equivalent durations in tied note notation.
Tie across the beat, followed by identical rhythm notated without tie