Note values & rests
Pitch tells you which note to play. Note values tell you how long to play it. Here's how long each note and rest lasts.
It's all about doubling
Note values work like fractions, and each one is worth half of the one before it. The easiest way to anchor them is to count in 4/4 time, where a quarter note gets one beat:
- Whole note — 4 beats (hold it for a full measure of 4/4)
- Half note — 2 beats
- Quarter note — 1 beat
- Eighth note — ½ beat (two eighths fit in one beat)
- Sixteenth note — ¼ beat (four sixteenths fit in one beat)
So a whole note equals two half notes, a half note equals two quarters, and so on all the way down. Counting eighths out loud as "1-and-2-and" and sixteenths as "1-e-and-a" makes them click.
What a dot does
A small dot to the right of a notehead makes it longer by half its own value. So:
- Dotted half note = 2 + 1 = 3 beats
- Dotted quarter note = 1 + ½ = 1½ beats
Rests: the same lengths, but silent
Every note value has a matching rest — a symbol for silence that lasts exactly as long. There's a whole rest (4 beats), half rest (2), quarter rest (1), eighth rest (½), and sixteenth rest (¼). Rests are just as important as notes: knowing when not to play is half of good rhythm.
Why it matters
Most "wrong notes" in a beginning band aren't wrong pitches — they're wrong rhythms: holding a note too long, rushing the fast bits, or missing a rest. Get the durations solid and your playing instantly sounds tighter.
Rhythm Match
A card game: pair each rhythm symbol with its name — whole, half, quarter, dotted, eighths, sixteenths, and the rests. No mic needed.
Keep going: Read the treble clef · What is ear training? · all guides