So you want to learn to play the piano? Welcome. In this free piano lesson we take a look at rests, note values and time signatures.
Music rests
A rest is an interval of silence in a piece of music, marked by a sign indicating the length of the pause. Each rest symbol corresponds with a particular note value.
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Types of music rests
Whole rests and whole notes
A whole note is a musical note that lasts for four beats in 4/4 time. A whole rest is silence equal to a whole note.
The whole rest: a dark rectangle attached to a bar line, facing downwards.
Half rests and half notes
A half rest is silence equivalent to the value of a half note. It lasts for two beats.
The half rest: a dark rectangle attached to a bar line, facing upwards.
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Quarter rests and quarter notes
A quarter rest is an interval of silence in music that lasts for one beat. Similarly, a quarter note lasts for one beat.
The quarter rest: a squiggly line.
Eighth rests and eight notes
An eight note lasts for half a beat. Likewise, an eight rest lasts for half a beat. It would take two eighth rests to form a rest that lasts for one beat, and similarly, two eight notes to form a quarter note or a note that lasts for one beat.
The eighth rest: a slanted line with a dot.
Sixteenth rests and sixteenth notes
A sixteenth note last for a quarter of a beat. A sixteenth rest is a period of silence in music that lasts a quarter of a beat. It takes four sixteenth notes or four sixteenth rests to make one beat.
The sixteenth rest: a slanted line with a double dot.
As you learn to play the piano you will realize that there’s a lot of simple math involved. As you can see the above is very mathematical.
In a previous piano lesson we looked at quarter, half and whole notes. The following are the images of 8th and 16th notes. They last for half a beat and a quarter of a beat, respectively.
8th notes
An eighth note with stem facing up, an eighth note with stem facing down, and an eighth rest.
Four eighth notes beamed together:
16th notes
A sixteenth note with stem facing up, a sixteenth note with stem facing down, and a sixteenth rest.
Four sixteenth notes beamed together:
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Next in our free piano lesson we shall watch a video on time signatures and note values. Enjoy.
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