So like, notes get played in bursts and then have a rest or what?
In this tutorial, we are going to talk about note lengths and rests. So, let's have some fun.
2. Note lengths
When it comes to music, a note can last for different amounts of time. And those amounts are categorized into certain lengths. Basically, the duration of a note can range anywhere from 8 beats to an eighth of a beat.
Basically, the length of a note refers to how many beats it lasts in a measure. A beat, as you remember, is closely linked to the time signature of a song. For simplicity's sake, we are going to use a four four time signature. What this translates to is that a measure has a total of 4 quarter notes worth of beats. And 1 beat in a measure is equal to 1 quarter note.
So, let's take a look at the most common note lengths you'll encounter in a song:
And in order to get a grasp at the difference between how long they last, here is the section above played back, at a tempo of 120 BPM.
Now, let's take this bad boy one bar at a time and figure out what we have here:
As you may have already gathered, these lengths are somewhat related to each other. A whole note lasts the equivalent of 2 half notes, 4 quarter notes, 8 eighth notes and so on. A half note lasts the equivalent of two quarter notes, 4 eighth notes, 8 sixteenth notes and so on. A quarter note lasts the equivalent of 2 eighth notes, 4 sixteenth notes, 8 thirty-second notes and so on.
Worth noting is that you may also encounter something called a double-whole note, which lasts like 2 whole notes, hence the name. You can also encounter sixty-fourth notes, though I can't for the life of me think of a song that would use this. Then again, Haydn did create the equivalent of ear-rape in the 1700s in his Symphony No. 94, 'Surprise', 2nd movement work, so who knows, maybe there are some people out there who use 64th notes. I mean just listen to this thing: ... you will not see it coming
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3. Rests
Now that we know about note lengths, it's time to rehash jokes and talk about the sound of silence. And by that I mean talk about rests.
In music, a rest is used to define a number of beats where the instrument does not play any note. That's basically it in a nutshell. Let's take a look at the most common rest lengths out there and how they are represented on a musical sheet:
As per the above, here is the section above played back at 120 BPM. Let's talk about what we have there:
If a rest does exist, then the note or notes which are part of the group that contains a rest are represented a bit different. They have their note body along with their vertical line called a stem but the stem also has a certain number of flags on it. These flags start appearing from eighth notes or shorter and you add a flag each time a note gets shorter.
In other words, eighth notes have 1 flag, sixteenth notes have 2 flags and so on. Similarly, their corresponding rests have 1 hook (eighth rest), 2 hooks (sixteenth notes) and so on.
That about covers it for this one as well. Next time, we are going to talk about time signatures and tempo. See you then.
- Topics of discussion
- Note lengths
- Rests
In this tutorial, we are going to talk about note lengths and rests. So, let's have some fun.
2. Note lengths
When it comes to music, a note can last for different amounts of time. And those amounts are categorized into certain lengths. Basically, the duration of a note can range anywhere from 8 beats to an eighth of a beat.
Basically, the length of a note refers to how many beats it lasts in a measure. A beat, as you remember, is closely linked to the time signature of a song. For simplicity's sake, we are going to use a four four time signature. What this translates to is that a measure has a total of 4 quarter notes worth of beats. And 1 beat in a measure is equal to 1 quarter note.
So, let's take a look at the most common note lengths you'll encounter in a song:
And in order to get a grasp at the difference between how long they last, here is the section above played back, at a tempo of 120 BPM.
Now, let's take this bad boy one bar at a time and figure out what we have here:
- the first bar contains a whole note, which lasts the whole bar (4 beats)
- the second bar contains two half notes, each of which lasts 2 beats
- the third bar contains four quarter notes, each of which lasts 1 beat
- the fourth bar contains eight eighth notes, each of which lasts half a beat
- the fifth bar contains 16 sixteenth notes, each of which lasts a quarter of a beat
- the sixth bar contains 32 thirty-second notes, each of which lasts an eighth of a beat
- the seventh bar contains a whole note triad, which translates to three notes played at the same time, who all last the whole bar
As you may have already gathered, these lengths are somewhat related to each other. A whole note lasts the equivalent of 2 half notes, 4 quarter notes, 8 eighth notes and so on. A half note lasts the equivalent of two quarter notes, 4 eighth notes, 8 sixteenth notes and so on. A quarter note lasts the equivalent of 2 eighth notes, 4 sixteenth notes, 8 thirty-second notes and so on.
Worth noting is that you may also encounter something called a double-whole note, which lasts like 2 whole notes, hence the name. You can also encounter sixty-fourth notes, though I can't for the life of me think of a song that would use this. Then again, Haydn did create the equivalent of ear-rape in the 1700s in his Symphony No. 94, 'Surprise', 2nd movement work, so who knows, maybe there are some people out there who use 64th notes. I mean just listen to this thing: ... you will not see it coming
.3. Rests
Now that we know about note lengths, it's time to rehash jokes and talk about the sound of silence. And by that I mean talk about rests.
In music, a rest is used to define a number of beats where the instrument does not play any note. That's basically it in a nutshell. Let's take a look at the most common rest lengths out there and how they are represented on a musical sheet:
As per the above, here is the section above played back at 120 BPM. Let's talk about what we have there:
- the first bar contains a whole rest, which lasts the whole bar (4 beats)
- the second bar contains a half note and a half rest, each of which lasts 2 beats
- the third bar contains three quarter notes and a quarter rest, each of which lasts 1 beat
- the fourth bar contains six eighth notes and two eighth rests, each of which lasts half a beat
- the fifth bar contains 14 sixteenth notes and two sixteenth rests, each of which lasts a quarter of a beat
- the sixth bar contains 29 thirty-second notes and three thirty-second rests, each of which lasts an eighth of a beat
- the seventh bar contains a whole note triad, which translates to three notes played at the same time, who all last the whole bar
If a rest does exist, then the note or notes which are part of the group that contains a rest are represented a bit different. They have their note body along with their vertical line called a stem but the stem also has a certain number of flags on it. These flags start appearing from eighth notes or shorter and you add a flag each time a note gets shorter.
In other words, eighth notes have 1 flag, sixteenth notes have 2 flags and so on. Similarly, their corresponding rests have 1 hook (eighth rest), 2 hooks (sixteenth notes) and so on.
That about covers it for this one as well. Next time, we are going to talk about time signatures and tempo. See you then.
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