In this guide, we’ll go over the four different parts of a note and break down each term in a way that is easy to understand so you can feel confident in your knowledge of music notation. So, let’s get started!

Notehead

Up first, we have the notehead. This is the oval-shaped part of a music note that all notes have.

It can either be white in the case of whole and half notes or filled-in black, as in the case of quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes.

The notehead is important as it’s the part of the note that sits on either the lines or the spaces of a music staff. This tells us the note’s pitch, an essential part of reading music.

Stem

Next, we have the note’s stem. This is the straight line that comes out of the side of the notehead.

While the notehead determines the pitch of the note, the stem helps identify the duration of the note. For example, whole notes and double whole notes don’t have stems, but half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes all do.

One important thing to know about the stem is that it can point either up or down. When it points up, the stem comes out of the right-hand side of the notehead. But when it points down, it comes out of the left-hand side of the notehead.

But which one is correct depends on the position of the note on the staff. If the notehead is located below the middle line of the staff, the stem points upwards. If the notehead is above the middle line of the staff, the stem points downwards. And, if the note is on the middle line, then you can choose whether it goes up or down.

Tail, Flag, or Hook

The next part of a note goes by a few different names. The note’s tail, which is also known as a flag or a hook, is the flick that comes out of the side of the note’s stem.

The notes that have tails are:

• Eighth notes
• Sixteenth notes
• Thirty-second notes
• Sixty-fourth notes

However, the number of tails that a note has depends on the value of the note. For example, eighth notes have one tail, sixteenth notes have two, thirty-second notes have three, and sixty-fourth notes have four.

Another important thing to know about note tails is that they always come out of the right-hand side of the note’s stem. It doesn’t matter if the stem is pointing up or down.

Beams

And finally, the last part of a note is the beam.

When reading music, you will notice that notes with tails are often grouped together by beams between the ends of their stems rather than individual notes with tails. This makes it easier to read and count the notes.

Notes are usually beamed together in groups of even numbers, such as 2, 4, 6, or 8 notes. But you’ll see them grouped in threes sometimes, too (which are probably a triplet).

The number of beams that a note has corresponds to the number of tails that the note has. For example, eighth notes have one beam, sixteenth notes have two, 32nd notes have three, and 64th notes have four.

Summing Up

That’s it for this guide to the four different parts of a musical note. I hope it has helped you make sense of it a bit more.

Understanding the different parts of a music note is essential for reading and writing music. By knowing what each part represents, you can easily identify the duration and pitch of each note. Additionally, knowing how to properly write music notes will ensure that your music is easy to read and play for others.

This dot makes the note last longer by adding on half its value.

Let’s look at some examples to see how this works.

Types Of Dotted Notes

We can add a dot to any type of note, and it has the same effect. It makes the note last longer by adding on half its value.

Let’s look at each type of note and the effect that adding a dot has on its duration.

Dotted Whole Notes

A whole note (semibreve) has the value of four beats. However, when you make it a dotted whole note, we extend its duration by half its value.

In the case of a whole note, it would be 4 + 2 = 6 beats.

So a dotted whole note is like adding a whole note and a half note together:

Dotted Half Notes

A half note, or minim, has the value of two beats. But when you make it a dotted half note, we extend its duration by half its value.

In the case of a half note, it would be:

2 + 1 = 3 beats

So a dotted half note is like adding a half note and a quarter note together:

Dotted Quarter Notes

A crotchet, or quarter note, has the value of one beat. But when you make it a dotted quarter note, we extend its duration by half its value.

In the case of a quarter note, it would be:

1 + ½ = 1 & ½ beats

So a dotted quarter note is like adding a quarter note and an eighth note together:

Dotted Eighth Notes

An eighth note (quaver) has the value of ½ a beat. But when you make it a dotted eighth note, we extend its duration by half its value.

In the case of an eighth note, it would be:

½ + ¼ = ¾ beat

So a dotted eighth note is like adding an eighth note and a sixteenth note together:

Dotted Sixteenth Notes

A sixteenth note (semiquaver) has the value of 1/4 of a beat. But when you make it a dotted sixteenth note, we extend its duration by half its value.

In the case of a sixteenth note it would be:

¼ + ⅛ = ⅜

So a dotted sixteenth note is like adding a sixteenth note and a thirty-second note together.

Where Do You Place The Dot On A Stave?

When dotting notes on a stave, or staff, there are a couple of different places you could put it.

Should it go in the space above the note, or should it go in the space below the note?

When we dot a note on a line on the stave, we place the dot in the space above the line, not in the space below the line.

And when we dot a note sitting in a space of the stave, we place the dot in the same space as the note head.

The dot should always be to the right of the not, never to the left.

It’s also not to be placed above the note as this is how we notate staccato, which is something else altogether!

Double Dotted Notes

If you want to extend a note’s value even more, you can also have double dotted notes.

Double dotted notes are rare but come up from time to time in music theory. Each dot in a double dotted note has a different value though.

For the first dot, as described above, you extend the duration of the note by adding on half of the note’s value.

But the second dot adds half of the first dot’s value to the note.

So if you had a double dotted quarter note, the first dot would be worth an eighth note and the second dot would be worth a sixteenth note (half of an eighth note).

1 + ½ + ¼ = 1 & ¾ beats

I’ll do another post on this to explain it in more detail soon, but for now, you can learn about double dotting notes here.

Can Dotted Notes Go Across Bar Lines?

The quick answer is no, dotted notes can’t go across bar lines.

If we want a note to go over a bar line, then we use another way to make the note last longer by adding a tie to the notes.

Check out my post on tied notes here.

Summing Up Dotted Notes

I hope this has helped you understand dotted notes better.

Remember, a dot to the right of the note is all you need to extend the value of the note by half.

In this post, I’ll cover how ties work and everything you need to know to be able to use them and know what to play if you see them in a piece of music.

What is a Tie in Music?

In music, a tie is a curved line between two notes that joins their time values together so that they are played as if they were one note.

For example, if you were to tie two minims (each worth two beats) you would play them as if they were a semibreve (worth four beats).

Or two crotchets (each worth one beat) tied together have the same value as a minim (worth two beats)

Or two quavers (each worth half a beat) tied together have the same value as a crotchet (worth one beat).

And so on…

They don’t have to be the same time value.

You could have a crotchet tied to a quaver, or a minim tied to a semiquaver.

You just add the time values of any tied notes together.

Why do we Need Tied Notes?

There are two reasons why tied notes are necessary in music theory.

You need to use a tied note when:

• there would be no other way to notate a certain rhythm
• you need a note to last over a bar line

Let’s take a look at some examples of these two situations.

To Notate Certain Rhythms

We have a lot of different ways of writing certain rhythms like:

• dotted notes
• triplets
• duplets
• double dotted notes

But, sometimes, the only way to notate a specific rhythm is by using a tied note.

For example, let’s say you wanted a note to last two and 1/4 beats – the length of a minim plus a semiquaver.

There is not a note that exists that can last two and 1/4 beats so you’d have to tie a minim to a semiquaver.

We then add the value of these two notes to achieve the rhythm that you want.

Notes Lasting Over Bar Lines

Another reason that we need tied notes is for times where we want a note to last for more than one bar or over a bar line.

If you’ve learnt about time signatures you’ll know that all the rhythms in a bar have to add up to the number of beats that the time signature specifies.

But, let’s say you had two bars of crotchets in 4/4 but you wanted the last crotchet of bar one to last two beats instead of one.

We can’t make it a minim as then the bar wouldn’t add up to four crotchet beats.

It’s situations like this that we use a tie to join the last crotchet of bar one to the first crotchet of bar two.

Or another example of using ties across bar lines would be when you wanted a note to last over multiple bars as shown in the example below.

How to Write a Tie

When it comes to writing ties there are a few rules to follow.

They must be written from the note head of the first note to the note head of a second note at the opposite end to the stem

For example, when the note’s stems are pointing up we draw the tie below the notes like this:

And when the note’s stems are pointing down we draw the tie above the note so that it’s at the opposite end to the stem:

When Not to use a Tie

As useful as ties can be when notating rhythms you should always avoid using them if possible.

If there is an alternate way of writing a rhythm for example using by using a dotted note or just a longer note then you should opt for that.

Below are some examples of when not to use a tied note:

Ties vs Slurs: Whats the Difference?

The last important thing to mention about tied notes is that the notes must be the same pitch.

If the notes that are tied together are not the same pitch then this is not a tie but a slur.

A slur is an articulation symbol that tells the musician that the notes are to be played legato which means you play them without separation.

A totally different meaning to ties.

Just remember if you see two notes that are the same pitch with a line joining them then it’s a tie, but, if they’re different pitches then it’s a slur.

That’s it for Ties

I hope that’s helped make a bit more sense of how we can extend the duration of a note using ties.

In this post, we’ll cover a few of the different types of tuplets and how they work in music theory.

What Is A Tuplet?

In music, a tuplet is the name we give to rhythms that subdivide a beat into different divisions than normally allowed by the time signature.

For example, in a simple meter time signature like 4/4, we can easily divide notes in half; half notes can be split into quarter notes, quarter notes split into eighth notes, eighth notes into sixteenth notes, etc.

But what if we want to divide a beat into three, five, or something else?

It’s times like these that we use tuplets as they allow us to split a beat into thirds, fifths, sixths, sevenths, etc.

Types Of Tuplets

There are a number of different types of tuplets for different purposes. Some are easier to play than others, and some of them are a lot more common.

In the examples covered below, remember that it can be any time value of note, not just the ones I’ve used as examples.

Triplets

The most common type of tuplet is a triplet.

A triplet is three notes played in the time of two of the same notes.

You indicate a triplet by writing a number three above the notes or using brackets to show which notes it applies to.

To read more about triplets check out our guide to musical triplets here.

Duplets

Not quite as common but still worth knowing is a duplet.

A duplet is two notes played in the time of three.

It’s like the reverse of a triplet.

You indicate duplets in the same way as triplets but instead of using a number three, you add the number two above the notes it applies to.

Duplets are used in compound time signatures when usually we divide the beat into three.

To read more about duplets check out my post on musical duplets here.

Quintuplets

A quintuplet is an irregular time division that tells us to play five notes in the time of four.

You write a quintuplet by adding a number five above the notes that it applies to.

It doesn’t have to be semiquavers though.

You can have a tuplet using any notes. For example, crotchets or quavers as shown below.

Sextuplets

A sextuplet is an irregular time division that tells us to play six notes in the time of four.

You write a sextuplet by adding a number six above the notes that it applies to.

For example, a semiquaver sextuplet would be played in the time of four semiquavers:

Septuplets

A septuplet is an irregular time division that tells us to play seven notes in the time of four.

You write a septuplet by adding a number seven above the notes that it applies to.

For example, a semiquaver septuplet would be played in the time of four semiquavers:

Nonuplets

A nonuplet is a bit different from the other tuplets that we’ve looked at so far.

A nonuplet is nine notes played in the time of eight of the same type of note.

They’re written in the same way as the other tuplets by adding the number above the notes it applies to.

For example, a semiquaver nonuplet would be played in the time of eight semiquavers:

Nonuplets are very rare but you will see them come up from time to time.

Summing Up Tuplets

Tuplets are a really useful and essential part of musical notation.

Without them, it would be very complicated or even impossible to write certain rhythms.

If you have any questions that haven’t been covered in this post, get in touch and we’ll do our best to answer them!

In this post, we’re going to take a look at a type of tuplet called a duplet and how they’re written and used.

What Is A Duplet?

A duplet is a type of tuplet that allows you to play two notes in the time of three notes.

They work in the same way as a triplet, which is where you play three notes in the time of two but in reverse.

How Do Duplets Work?

When we’re in compound time, the beat is always a dotted beat. In other words, each beat can be divided into three.

For example, the time signature 6/8 tells us there are six quavers (eighth notes) in a bar.

We group those quavers into two groups of three, with each group of three quavers adding up to a dotted crotchet (dotted quarter note).

However, what if we wanted to have two equal notes in the time of one dotted crotchet beat?

It’s in these situations that we use a duplet.

We indicate a duplet in the same way as a triplet, but instead of using the number three above the notes, we use the number 2.

The quaver duplet above is played at the same time as it takes to play three normal quavers.

Alternate Ways To Write Duplets

When writing a duplet for notes without beams (crotchets, minims, etc.), you can also use a bracket over the top to show which notes the duplet applies for.

There is another way to write a duplet by using dotted notes.

For example, the duplet below each quaver is actually worth 3/4 of a beat, which is the same as a dotted quaver.

We can use a dotted quaver to achieve the same rhythm like this:

These two bars are played and sound exactly the same; they’re just different ways of writing the same thing.

Summing Up Duplets

I hope that helps make a bit more sense of duplets and how they work.

Duplets can be hard to understand, especially when converting music from one time signature to another, but with a little practice, you’ll soon get to grips with them.

In this post, we’re going to look in depth at what rests are, how we use them, and all the different types. Let’s get started.

What Is A Rest?

A rest in music is a type of symbol that indicates that the musician should not play and that there should be silence.

Every type of note, like quarter notes, half notes, etc, has a corresponding rest symbol that has the same time value.

The Types Of Rests

Whole Rest (Semibreve Rest)

A whole rest (or semibreve rest) is drawn as a small rectangle that hangs off the second line from the top of the staff. 

It has a time value of four beats, the same as a whole note.

Half Rest (Minim Rest)

The half rest (or minim rest) is a small rectangle that is very similar to the whole rest, but instead of hanging from the second line, it sits on the middle line of the staff.

It has a time value of two beats, the same as a half note.

Quarter Rest (Crotchet Rest)

The quarter rest (or crotchet rest) is quite complicated to draw. It kind of looks like a skewed letter Z with a small letter C on the bottom.

It’s drawn right in the middle of the staff, between the top and the bottom lines.

It has a time value of one beat, the same as a quarter note.

Eighth Rest (Quaver Rest)

Up next, we have an eighth rest (or quaver rest), which looks like a small number 7 with a little blob on the top end.

Like the quarter rest, it sits right in the middle of the staff, sitting on the fourth line from the top.

It has a time value of 1/2 of a beat, the same as an eighth note.

Sixteenth Rest (Semiquaver Rest)

Lastly, we have a sixteenth rest (or semiquaver rest), which is very similar to the eighth rest but slightly taller and has two flicks.

It sits on the bottom line of the staff.

It has a time value of 1/4 of a beat, the same as a sixteenth note.

Thirty-Second Rest (Demisemiquaver Rest)

In the same way that we can keep adding new tails to the different types of music notes to half their time value, we can do the same with rests.

When we add another flick to the sixteenth rest, it halves the time value, and we get a thirty-second rest (or demisemiquaver rest).

It has the time value of 1/8 of a beat, the same as a thirty-second note.

Double Whole Rest (Breve Rest)

Another type of rest you might see is a double whole rest (or breve rest).

It has a time value of 8 beats, the same as a double whole note.

It’s a lot more rare, and you’ll only see it in time signatures like 4/2, as there aren’t enough beats in a measure to warrant using one.

Dotted Rests

Just as you can have dotted notes, which make the note last longer by half its time value, you can also have dotted rests, which make the rest last longer by half its time value.

In other words, if you have a dotted rest, it’s worth one and a half times its time value.

Dotted Half Rest (Dotted Minim Rest)

Here is a dotted half rest (or dotted minim rest).

This has a time value of 3 beats, the same time value as a dotted half note.

Dotted Quarter Rest (Dotted Crotchet Rest)

This is a dotted quarter rest (or dotted crotchet rest).

It has a time value of 1 and 1/2 beats, the same as a dotted quarter note.

Dotted Eighth Rest (Dotted Quaver Rest)

And here is a dotted eighth rest (or dotted quaver rest).

This has a time value of 3/4 of a beat, the same time value as a dotted eighth note.

Where To Place The Dot

One common question about dotted rests is which space of the staff to place the dot in.

The dot always sits in the second space from the top of the staff, no matter which rest you’re using.

What Rest Do You Use For A Whole Measure Of Silence?

The last thing to mention about rests has to do with having a whole measure of silence.

Whenever you want an entire measure to be silent, you always use a whole rest. This is the case even if the time signature is 2/4 or 3/4.

See the examples below:

Ready To Try Our Quiz?

Now that you’ve read our guide, it’s time to see how well you’ve taken it all in. Below is our quiz on the different types of rests.

Rests

1 / 10

How many beats is this rest worth?

4

2

8

16

2 / 10

How many beats is this rest worth?

1

1/4

1/8

1/2

3 / 10

How many beats is this rest worth?

1

4

2

8

4 / 10

What is this rest called?

Quarter Rest (Crotchet Rest)

Half Rest (Minim Rest)

Eighth Rest (Quaver Rest)

Whole Rest (Semibreve Rest)

5 / 10

How many beats is this rest worth?

3

2

4

1 & 1/2

6 / 10

How many beats is this rest worth?

1

3/4

3

1 & 1/2

7 / 10

How many beats is this rest worth?

1/8

1/2

1/16

1/4

8 / 10

What is this rest called?

Eighth Rest (Quaver Rest)

Half Rest (Minim Rest)

Sixteenth Rest (Semiquaver Rest)

Quarter Rest (Crotchet Rest)

9 / 10

How many beats is this rest worth?

2

1

4

8

10 / 10

How many beats is this rest worth?

1/2

1

1 & 1/2

3/4

Your score is

The average score is 77%

Share this quiz!

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0%

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Summing Up

That’s it for our guide to rests in music, we hope you found it helpful.

If you have any further questions or if you think we haven’t covered something, get in touch and we’ll be happy to help.

In this post, we’ll cover all these types of notes in music to help you on your way to learning how to read music. Let’s get started.

Music Note Names and Their Time Values

When playing music, a musician needs to know how long to play each sound for.

Composers tell them by using different symbols called notes.

Let’s take a look at some of the music note types you definitely need to know about when learning to read music.

Whole Note (Semibreve)

The first note is called a whole note or, in British terminology, it’s called a semibreve.

It’s like a small oval-shaped zero or letter O, which is a good way to think of it when you first begin writing music. We call this oval-shaped oval-shaped part of a note the notehead.

A whole note has a value of four beats. That means when we play a whole note, we count to four whilst holding the note.

Half Note (Minim)

The second note we’ll look at is called a half note or minim.

It’s similar to a whole note but has a line coming out of the right-hand side of its note head. This line is called a stem.

The stem halves the value of the note, and so a half note has a value of two beats. That means we count to two when playing a half note, half as long as a whole note.

Quarter Note (Crotchet)

Next, we have a quarter note or crotchet.

It’s like a half note, but it has its notehead filled in black.

This halves the value of the note again, and so a quarter note has a value of one beat, half as long as a half note.

Eighth Note (Quaver)

This note is an eighth note or quaver.

It’s like a quarter note, but it also has a tail coming out of the side of its stem.

The note tail is also referred to as a flag or a hook.

The tail halves the value of the note again, and so an eighth note has a value of half a beat, half as long as a quarter note.

Sixteenth Note (Semiquaver)

Up next, we have a sixteenth note or semiquaver.

It’s like a quaver but has two tails coming out of its stem.

This means that it’s half the value of an eighth note and so is worth one-quarter of a beat. 

Thirty Second Note (Demisemiquaver)

Here, we have a thirty-second note or demisemiquaver.

You can see it has three tails (one more than a sixteenth note).

A thirty-second note is worth half the value of a sixteenth note and so is worth one-eighth of a quarter note beat.

Other Notes

Those are the main notes you’ll come across and use in musical notation, but you can get shorter and longer notes, too.

Sixty-Fourth Note (Hemidemisemiquaver)

A sixty-fourth note, or hemidemisemiquaver (I know it’s a bit of a mouthful), is just like a thirty-second note but with an additional tail.

It’s very uncommon, though, so don’t worry about it too much!

You can get even shorter notes than this, such as the 128th note or semihemidemisemiquaver, and the 256th note or demisemihemidemisemiquaver, but I’m not going to cover those as they’re extremely rare.

Double Whole Note (Breve)

You can also have a note called a double whole note or breve, which is worth eight beats – twice as long as a whole note.

It’s quite uncommon, and you’ll only see it in certain time signatures.

The Music Note Tree

Sometimes, you’ll see the note values represented as a tree or pyramid.

This is called the music note tree and is a great way to visualize the relationship between all the note values.

Note Stems

As well as the stems of notes being able to point upwards, they can also point downwards.

When a note’s stem points upwards, it comes out of the right-hand side of the note head. 

But, when a note’s stem points downwards, it comes out of the left-hand side of the note head.

There are some rules to know about to determine which way the stems should point, though. 

I cover some of the basics in this post about notes on the staff.

The most important thing, however, is to always have the stem on the correct side of the notehead.

Note Tails

Note tails work a little differently from notes that have tails like quavers and semiquavers.

Note’s tails always come out of the right-hand side of the stem, no matter whether or not they’re pointing up or down.

The way to remember this is that tails always follow the direction of the music.

In other words, we read music from left to right. So, the note tails always point in the direction of the music…

To the right.

Beaming Notes Together

When we have two or more notes with a tail (like eighth notes and sixteenth notes) next to each other, we join their tails together with a beam between the tops of their stems.

This is to help make it easier for musicians to read the notes.

Let’s look at how to beam eighth notes.

Beaming Quavers (Eighth Notes)

When we beam eighth notes together, we join the stems together using their note tails. 

For example, two eighth notes on their own become:

There are lots of rules and conventions about how many quavers we can beam together.

But I’ll cover those in another post on grouping notes in different time signatures.

Beaming Sixteenth Notes (Semiquavers)

It works the same with sixteenth notes, but instead of having one beam between their stems, we use two beams.

This is because they have two tails.

For thirty-second notes and sixty-fourth notes, we would just add an additional beam or two depending on how many tails the note has.

Combinations of Eighth Notes and Sixteenth Notes

We can also have different combinations of eighth notes and sixteenth notes beamed together.

For example:

There are some rules about how to beam and group notes in different time signatures that we’ll cover in another lesson, too. 

Dotted Notes

Sometimes, when writing music, a composer might want to make a note last longer than a note’s value. When this is the case, we can use a Dotted Note to extend the duration of the note.

This dot after the note head makes the note longer by half its value. 

For example, a dotted half note has the same time value as a half note plus a quarter note:

Or a dotted eighth note is equal to an eighth note plus a sixteenth note.

We can’t have a dotted note go across a bar line, though.

If we want a note to go over a bar line, then we use a tied note, which we’re going to have a look at next.

Tied notes

A tie is a sloped line that joins together two notes that are next to each other and have the same pitch. 

It looks like this line below.

When you see a tie, it means that the time values of the notes are added together to create a longer note.

For example, two half notes tied together have the same value as a whole note:

Two quarter notes tied together have the same value as a half note:

They don’t have to be the same time value either; you could have a quarter note tied to an eighth note, or a half note tied to a quarter note, etc…

Rests and When Not to Play

Music isn’t all about sound. Sometimes, not playing a note is just as important as playing one.

All the different types of musical notes we’ve looked at above have a corresponding symbol telling the musician not to play and to be silent.

We call these symbols rests.

You can read more about the different music rest symbols here.

What are Ornaments?

Musical ornaments are a shorthand way of writing more complicated musical devices but with a simple symbol.

They’re used to embellish music and make it more interesting with decoration and character.

There are lots of different types, like turns, trills, and acciaccaturas, plus a few others.

I cover a lot of the common ones in this post here if you want to read more about them.

What are Triplets?

Another type of musical note that you might see is a group of notes with a number three over the top.

These notes with a number three over them are a type of tuplet called triplets.

We use triplets to subdivide notes into three equal parts.

To read more about them, check out my in-depth guide to triplets, where I go into more detail about how to draw them with loads of examples.

What are Duplets?

You can also get another type of tuplet (irregular time division) called a duplet.

A dulpet works like a triplet, but it’s a way of playing two notes in the time of three.

To read more about them, check out our post on how to play musical duplets here.

Wrapping up on Music Notes

That’s it for now. Hopefully, this post has helped you to understand how to read and write music a little better.

Most people will focus on memorizing all the notes and think that they have to know them all before starting to play music. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

I find the best way to really learn how to read music and learn all the notes is to do it as much as possible. The more you practice reading notes, the more natural recognizing them will become.

If you have any questions about anything that I’ve covered in this post, just get in touch, and I’ll get back to you.