Beginner
Note values, rests and time signatures
How long each note lasts and how beats are grouped.
Learn
1.Note values
The note value says how long a note lasts. Counting the quarter note as one beat:
Whole = 4 · Half = 2 · Quarter = 1 · Eighth = ½ · Sixteenth = ¼.
Each value is half the one before. Eighths and sixteenths are joined with beams within each beat.
One bar of each value: they always add up to 4 beats.
2.Rests
Each value has a matching rest that lasts the same time in silence. The beat keeps going even when you don’t sing.
3.Dots and ties
A dot adds half the value: dotted half = 2 + 1 = 3 beats; dotted quarter = 1½.
A tie joins two notes of the same pitch into one longer note. It lets a note cross the bar line.
4.Time signatures and bar lines
Bar lines split music into bars (measures). The final double bar marks the end.
The time signature has two numbers: the top one says how many beats per bar; the bottom one, which note gets the beat (4 = quarter). In 3/4 there are three quarter notes per bar: a waltz.
Practice
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