Back to start Email me

Note and rest lengths

Neil Hawes Home Page

• We have already seen simple note lengths:
  • There are a few other less-common note lengths (see table below);
  • Also, for every note length, there is an equivalent rest.

• A rest, as its name implies, is a gap with no sound:
  • It's better though to think of it as a note with zero volume;
  • Rests need to be accurate in length, you must still count.
  • Rests can be dotted.
  • Rests are not beamed together - you wouldn't write multiple ones together.
  • Rests are not tied - there is no point.

• The table below shows the symbols for all notes and rests:

Note	Rest	British name	US name	Length	Comments
		Breve	Double whole note	Two semibreves or four minims	Quite rare nowadays
		Semibreve	Whole note	Two minims or four crotchets	The rest is also used to indicate a whole bar rest, even if the bar is not a semibreve long.
		Minim	Half note	Two crotchets or four quavers	The semibreve rest hangs from the line, the minim rest floats on the line (it is "lighter")
		Crotchet	Quarter note	Two quavers or half a minim	You might also see a crotchet rest written as:
		Quaver	Eighth note	Half a crotchet	Two or more can be beamed together:
		Semiquaver	Sixteenth note	Half a quaver	Two or more can be beamed together:
		Demisemiquaver	Thirty-second note	Half a semiquaver	Two or more can be beamed together:
		Hemidemisemiquaver	Sixty-fourth note	Half a demisemiquaver	Two or more can be beamed together: