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.

In this article, we’ll look at exactly what an ostinato is in music and how to recognize one, as well as compose one.

Definition Of Ostinato

The word ostinato is an Italian term that means “stubborn” or “obstinate” or “something that remains unchanged.”

In music, we use it to define a short motif or phrase that remains unchanged throughout a piece, consistently repeating over and over often in the same musical voice and the same pitch and register.

The plural of the term ostinato is ostinati, and a single piece of music can have multiple ostinati played within it at the same time. 

The repeating motif that makes up the ostinato might be a rhythmic idea, a part of a harmonic progression, or an entire melody. As long as it repeats pretty much exactly the whole time, it can be considered an ostinato.

It might be able to change if the key or harmony changes, but often, they stay the exact same.

In the example below, the bottom voice plays an ostinato pattern of repeated C – D – E eighth notes, while the upper voice plays the melody.

History Of The Ostinato

Ostinati first appeared in Western music, most likely medieval music era, sometime in the 13th century.

For example, the famous English canon song “Sumer is Icumen in” features an ostinato in the lower parts under the main melody:

Another good example is “Resvelons Nous,” a 15th-century motet by the Renaissance period composer Guillaume Dufay.

The string ostinato at the beginning continues throughout the piece, while the melody changes over top. 

This could be considered an example of ground bass, or basso ostinato.

This is when the bass line of a piece, or even the harmonic progression built from the bass, stays the same but the melody changes or goes through variations above it.

A famous example of the basso ostinato is Pachelbel’s “Canon in D.”

Listen to the left hand, each progression follows the same bass pattern. Here, the bass ostinato for “Canon in D” repeats ad infinitum throughout the whole piece:

Riff And Vamp

In contemporary music, like pop, rock, or jazz music, you might have heard the terms riff and vamp used when referring to certain parts of a song.

These terms are both similar in concept to ostinato, but they are a bit different. 

A riff is a short, repeated musical phrase. It could be rhythmic, melodic, or harmonic, but it is typically repeated throughout a song.

It can also be called a hook and is usually the most recognizable musical feature in a song. 

Many riffs, especially the most famous ones, are melodic in nature, so riffs are more often thought of as short melody fragments.

For instance, one of the  most popular guitar riffs ever is “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath: 

What separates a riff from an ostinato is that usually a riff is not repeated throughout the entire song.

Often it is only used for the verses of a song, rather than the chorus, or vice versa. It is more of a decorative aspect than a structural one.

A vamp, on the other hand, is more closely related to harmonic, accompanying texture than melody.

Vamps are usually found in jazz, blues, or funk music, upon which a melody is either improvised or composed. 

Vamps are often harmonically sparse, typically consisting of a single chord held for a long time, or maybe a slow progression between two long-held chords.

Many vamps often come at the end or solo section of a song and can be the basis for a jam section. 

A song that uses a vamp style for the entire length of the song, and thus considered an ostinato, and a riff, as well, is “Loser” by Beck. 

Ostinato Use In Minimalism And Film Music

The most common genre of music you would find ostinati being used is minimalism and, by extension, film music because the majority of contemporary film music uses the same structural and stylistic properties as minimalist music.

Minimalist music is based on repetition and ostinato structure.

For example, this piece by Philip Glass, titled “Mad Rush,” uses multiple ostinati throughout, for both the harmonic and melodic parts:

The left hand harmonies use the A – C minor third eighth-note ostinato pattern throughout, and the right hand melody is essentially just a triplet A – C set an octave above.

In film music, ostinati are used to create a sense of rhythm and direction, to develop a connection between two different locations or times via crosscutting, and to keep the audience’s attention throughout a longer scene.

All three of these points are on display in this scene from The Social Network, using the track “In Motion” by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross:

Although the entire cue is built with multiple ostinato layers on top of each other, the main one is this sixteenth-note bass pulse.

Another film that uses an ostinato throughout is Sicario, in which composer Johann Johannsson uses a drum rhythm as an ostinato, as heard here in the cue “The Beast.”

The drum beat can really be heard best after the 0:40 second mark, but it steadily crescendos throughout the cue.

In Summary

Ostinato patterns have been around for centuries and are still used in many types of music.

Whether you’re a musician or not, understanding the basics of ostinatos can help you appreciate some of your favorite songs on an entirely new level!

It is often a structural device that acts as a musical backdrop or constant repeating figure that then other melodies, harmonies, or rhythms can be played on top of.

Thank you for reading this blog post. We hope that you found it informative and interesting!

The main aspect of music that deals with time is rhythm. It is, maybe behind melody, the most used word when talking about music. Every single piece of music you hear on the radio has a rhythm to it. 

In this article, we’ll give you a complete guide to rhythm – what it is, how it can be defined, and how it’s used in music. Let’s get started by looking at what is rhythm in music.

Definition of Rhythm in Music

Rhythm in music refers to the pattern of sounds and silences that occur over time. It is the element of music that creates a sense of movement and forward momentum and is often described as the “heartbeat” or “pulse” of a piece of music.

Rhythm isn’t just about music, and you’ll find it in all aspects of life. For example, the Earth travels around the sun with a rhythm of about 365 days, and it rotates with a rhythm of 1 day. Your heart beats at a specific rhythm, and a watch ticks along at an exact rhythm of 60 beats per minute. 

In music, rhythm refers to the pattern of regularly recurring beats, including both accented and unaccented beats, and how they are grouped together.

The term rhythm is closely related to the term beat, as well as pulse and meter. To fully understand rhythm and the definition above, we need to unpack what each of these three terms means.

What are Beats and Pulse?

A beat is the basic unit of time in music, and when repeated in a regular pattern, it creates a pulse.

In our guide to time signatures, we discuss that a 4/4 time signature has four beats per measure and that each beat is the length of a quarter note (crotchet).

So if you listen to a piece of music in 4/4 time and clap or tap your foot along to it, you are following along with the pulse and clapping on each beat.

The song below is an example of music in 4/4 meter, and you can clearly hear the pulse of the music—the drums hit each quarter note beat throughout the song.

Try tapping your foot and see if you can feel the pulse, even when there are other rhythms being played!

Accented and Unaccented Beats

So, a pulse is a regularly repeating pattern of beats. However, a pulse is more specific than that because it only deals with the beats of a song that are accented.

Take the song Pompeii by Bastille, for example. For the first 15 seconds or so, the pulse is hard to determine because a lot of the vocals are not being sung exactly on the beat, but then when the verse comes in (0:17), the pulse is more easily identifiable.

Another famous example is Coldplay’s Viva La Vida. In this song, the first four notes played on the violins are all perfectly in line with the pulse of the song, but the next five notes are not lined up with the pulse.

When the first verse starts at 0:12, the drum keeps the pulse while the violins and vocals play a different rhythm.

Both of these songs make use of accented and unaccented beats. You might also see them called stressed and unstressed beats or strong and weak beats.

The pulse—what you tap along with your foot when listening—is made up of accented, strong beats. However, the rhythm of a song or melody can be on strong and weak beats.

The song Falling by Iration is an example of “reggae” music, where the guitar is played on the unaccented beats the whole time.

Listen along and try to feel the pulse of the song. In the beginning, it’s hard because the pulse is in the ‘silent’ parts between the guitar chords.

In 4/4 time, there are four beats in each measure. Usually, the first beat and third beat are accented (strong), and the second beat and fourth beat are unaccented (weak).

In the reggae song above, he’s playing guitar on the 2nd and 4th beats. But, in 3/4 time, there are three beats in each bar, and the 1st beat is still the strong beat, but the other two are both weak beats.

Listen to this famous waltz by Johann Strauss and see if you can feel the pulse at the start of each bar: 

Meter and Measures

So rhythm consists of regularly repeating patterns of accented and unaccented beats.

However, to make things a bit easier to read and follow along with a piece of music, we usually group the rhythm into measures (also called bars in the UK).

A measure is a grouping of a specific number of beats and is primarily used to keep music organized and easier to read when writing it down.

Just like a sentence you read in a book would be hard to read if there weren’t any spaces or punctuation, measures keep certain notes separated with bar lines, which usually occur every few beats (almost always between 2 and 12 beats). 

In this piano piece, the bar lines are helpful because there are a lot of notes being played in a row in the same rhythm (all eighth notes), and the bar lines keep the notes separate so you can read them more easily.

Meter (or metre in the UK), on the other hand, is more to do with how a piece of music feels, and it is determined by comparing the number of weak beats to one strong beat.

For example, with the “Blue Danube” waltz above, there are two weak beats after one strong beat, and that means the piece is in a triple meter or triple time (three beats).

There is also duple meter or duple time (two beats – one strong, one weak) and quadruple meter or quadruple time (four beats – one strong and three weak). 

A song can change its meter by changing the number of weak beats in between each strong beat.

Listen to this example in the song “We Can Work It Out” by The Beatles: 

The song starts in quadruple meter (4/4 – you can feel three weak beats for every strong beat), but at 0:15 when they sing “We can work it out,” the meter changes to a duple meter because they start playing only one weak beat per strong beat.

It then changes back to quadruple meter at 0:19.

Later in the same song, at 0:40, the song is again in 4/4 in quadruple meter. However, when they start singing “Fighting My Friends,” it changes to a triple meter, and you can feel two weak beats for each strong beat.

After this, at the line “I have always thought,” they go back to quadruple meter.

Other Information

In music, we write notes on staff paper, and each one has an element of time to it. A quarter note is twice as long as an eighth, which is twice as long as a sixteenth note. 

In this example, we have all the information we need in order to play this melody correctly.

We know the tempo, which is the speed of the pulse represented by the quarter note = 120 above the top left of the staff. We know the time signature is 4/4, so there are four beats per bar, and a quarter note is one beat.

And we know the length and time value of the notes in the melody: 

• Quarter note: one beat
• Eighth note (and eighth note rest): half a beat each
• Sixteenth note: a quarter of a beat each

The above melody is also an example of syncopation, which is when unaccented beats and off-beats become important in the rhythm.

Summing Up

Rhythm is to time what melody and harmony is to pitch or frequency; it divides the abstract concept of time into discrete and measurable segments. It is often the least thought of major aspect of music, but it is just as important. 

We hope that in this article, we were able to help you learn all about rhythm in music.

It is often hard to describe exactly what rhythm is, which is why this post had a lot of definitions and technical words in it!

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?

1/4

1/2

1/16

1/8

2 / 10

How many beats is this rest worth?

1

3

1 & 1/2

3/4

3 / 10

What is this rest called?

Whole Rest (Semibreve Rest)

Half Rest (Minim Rest)

Eighth Rest (Quaver Rest)

Quarter Rest (Crotchet Rest)

4 / 10

How many beats is this rest worth?

1 & 1/2

1

3/4

1/2

5 / 10

What is this rest called?

Sixteenth Rest (Semiquaver Rest)

Eighth Rest (Quaver Rest)

Quarter Rest (Crotchet Rest)

Half Rest (Minim Rest)

6 / 10

How many beats is this rest worth?

1/8

1/16

1/2

1/4

7 / 10

What is this rest called?

Eighth Rest (Quaver Rest)

Whole Rest (Semibreve Rest)

Quarter Rest (Crotchet Rest)

Half Rest (Minim Rest)

8 / 10

How many beats is this rest worth?

1/4

1/8

1

1/2

9 / 10

How many beats is this rest worth?

4

1

2

8

10 / 10

How many beats is this rest worth?

1 & 1/2

4

3

2

Your score is

The average score is 77%

Share this quiz!

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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 guide, we’re going to learn all about time signatures, what they are, how they work, and all the different kinds. Let’s get started.

What is a Time Signature?

A time signature, also known as a time meter, is made up of two numbers, one on top of the other. It looks a bit like a fraction.

Here are some different time signatures you might see in a piece of music.

We use time signatures to tell musicians how to group musical notes. For example, should we group them in beats of two, three, four, or something else?

A time signature also tells us what kind of beat to count. 

I’ll explain what I mean by this shortly, but first, let’s look at how we group notes in measures.

Grouping Notes in Measures

Before we talk about time signatures, it’s good to know why we even need to use them. 

It’s all to do with making the notes easier for musicians to read by putting them into groups and which beats we emphasize, which affects how the music feels.

The most common way is to group them is in groups of two, three, and four. 

For example, take the twelve quarter notes below.

Here, you can see they are not grouped at all, but now we’ll look at how we group them in measures.

Bar Lines

If we wanted to put these twelve crotchets into groups of two, three, or four, we could draw vertical lines separating them, as shown below.

We call these groups of notes separated by vertical lines bars or in the US they’re referred to as measures.

The vertical lines separating the notes are called bar lines.

Emphasizing Certain Beats in a Measure

Not all notes are created equal, some are played a little stronger than others.

We always emphasize the first beat of each measure.

That means we play the note after a bar line a little stronger than the other notes in the measure. 

I’ll talk a bit more about strong and weak beats later on.

The different types of double bar lines

There are a few other types of bar lines that we need to know about.

The first one is two thin lines, as shown below.

A double bar line like this indicates the end of a section of music.

When you reach this type of double bar line it means that you should go on to the next section of music.

The other type of double bar line has a second line, which is thicker than the first.

This type of double bar line indicates that this measure is the very last one of the piece of music. 

The Two Numbers of a Time Signature

Now we know a bit more about measures; we’ll look at what the two numbers in a time signature mean and how to use them.

What does the top number represent?

The top number in a time signature represents how many beats there are per measure.

• If the top number is two then there must be two beats in a measure 
• If the top number is three then there must be three beats in a measure 
• If the top number is four, there must be four beats in a measure

And so on.

What does the bottom number represent?

The bottom number tells us what kind of beat to count. For example, we might be counting crotchet beats, minim beats, or quaver beats. 

This is best explained with some examples.

2/4 Time Signature

If we look at the time signature 2/4 below, it means there should be two quarter note beats in each measure.

The top number tells us how many beats per measure (two in this case), and the bottom number tells us what kind of beat to count – the number four represents quarter notes beats.

But why does the number four mean crotchet beats?

The number four is used because four crotchet beats are equal to one semibreve.

If the bottom number in the time signature was a two then it would represent minim beats because two minim beats are equal to one semibreve.

If the bottom number was an eight then it would represent quaver beats because eight quavers are equal to one semibreve. 

Here are all the bottom numbers in a time signature and their corresponding note value:

• 1 = Semibreve / Whole note (these are very rare, you won’t see these)
• 2 = Minim / Half note
• 4 = Crotchet / Quarter note
• 8 = Quaver / Eighth note
• 16 = Semiquaver / Sixteenth note (also quite rare)

The time signature 3/4

The time signature 3/4 means there should be three crotchet beats in a measure.

Again, the top number tells us how many beats per measure (three in this case) and the bottom number tells us what kind of beat (crotchet beats as it’s a number four).

The time signature 4/4

The time signature 4/4 means there are four crotchet beats in a measure.

The top number tells us how many beats per measure (four in this case), and the bottom number tells us what kind of beat (crotchet beats as it’s a number four, which represents crotchets).

Common time

Another time signature you might see is one that looks like the letter C.

This stands for common time and is exactly the same as 4/4, so it has four crotchet beats per measure. 

Using combinations of different notes

But we don’t only have to use only crotchets if the bottom number in the time signature is a four.

We can use longer or shorter notes too. 

The only rule is that they have to equal the number of beats in the time signature.

For example, any of these are correct:

Just remember that every single measure should always add up to the correct number of beats indicated in the time signature.

Simple Time Signatures

2/4 Time Signature

The time signature 2/4 tells us that there should be two quarter note beats per measure.

2/4 is a type of simple time signature because each quarter note beat can be divided into two eighth notes.

It’s also in duple time because there are two beats per measure.

3/4 Time Signature

The time signature 3/4 tells us that there should be three quarter note beats per measure.

3/4 is a type of simple time signature because each quarter note beat can be divided into two eighth notes.

It’s also in triple time because there are three beats per measure.

4/4 Time Signature

Next, we have the time signature 4/4, which tells us that there should be four quarter note beats per measure.

4/4 is a type of simple time signature because each quarter note beat can be divided into two eighth notes.

It’s also in quadruple time because there are four beats per measure.

Regular Time Signatures

There are a few different ways to categorize time signatures. The main two are regular (or common) and irregular time signatures.

A regular time signature is defined by having a top number that is divisible by two, three, or four.

That means that the number of beats in a measure is going to be two, three, or four.

For example, the time signature 3/4 has three crotchet beats in a measure, and so is a regular time signature because three can be divided by three.

Another example would be the time signature 12/8, which has four dotted crotchet beats and so is divisible by two, three, or four.

But 5/8, which has five quaver beats in a measure, has a top number five, which can’t be divided by two, three, or four, and so is an irregular time signature (more about those soon).

Duple, triple and quadruple time

We can further categorize regular time signatures into three more groups:

• Duple time
• Triple time
• Quadruple time

In the US, these are sometimes referred to as meter instead – Duple meter, triple meter, etc.

These are referring to whether a regular time signature can be divided by two, three, or four.

Duple time is where we will have two main beats in a measure. An example of this would be 2/4, which has two crotchet beats in a measure, or 2/2, which has two minim beats in a measure.

Triple time is where we have three main beats in a measure. An example of this would be 3/4, which has three crotchet beats in a measure, or 3/8, which has three quaver beats in a measure.

Quadruple time is where we have four main beats in a measure. An example of this would be 4/4, which has four crotchet beats in a measure, or 4/2, which has four minim beats in a measure.

Simple Vs. Compound Time Signatures

Another way to group time signatures is either simple or compound. There is an easy way to remember the difference:

A simple time signature has a top number of 2, 3, or 4. 

A compound time signature has a top number of 6, 9, or 12.

To get a better idea of how these work, I’ve put together some time signature charts to download over here.

To Sum up

Time signatures are an absolutely essential thing to know if you want to learn about music theory.

Whether you’re just a beginner using the basic meters like 3/4 and 4/4 or some more complex odd and irregular time signatures like 7/8 and 7/4 it’s important to know what they mean and how to play them.

If you have any questions about anything covered in this post though just comment below and I’ll get back to you.

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.