Piano for Beginners 6th ED - 2016 UK

As with musical notes, sometimes in music we need times of silence.

These are represented by different symbols called rests

Rests in action...

Introducing rests How to use

rests in music

There are several different types of

rests. Each rest relates to its note

equivalent. This chart shows the

most common types.

Ty p e o f r es t Note Length of rest

4 beats

2 beats

1 beat

1/2 a beat

“There are

several

different types

of rests. Each

rest relates

to its note

equivalent”

01

4

4

02

03

04

01 Crotchet/

quarter rest

Crotchet/quarter rest for one beat.

02 Quaver/eighth rest

Quaver/eighth rest for half a beat.

03 Minim/half rest

Minim/half rest for two beats (note it

sits above the line).

04 Semibreve/

whole rest

Semibreve/whole rest for one beat

(note this rests underneath the line).

In music where the time signature is

the rests can be used in this way:

4

4

An example of music How it looks in practice

Rests

This squiggly symbol is crotchet/quarter

note rest. This means that no music is to

be played for a beat. See below for more

Stacked notes

More than one note sharing the

same stem means that they are

to be played at the same time

Beamed quavers/eighth notes

These four notes are quavers/eighth

notes. They’re worth half a beat each, so

the four together make up two beats

The notes

These notes are both

As, one octave apart.

The treble stave note

is the A five white

keys to the right of

Middle C; the bass

stave note is the A

two white notes

to Middle C’s left.

Remember FACE and

All Cows Eat Grass!