Note values describe relative duration, and rests measure silence. With a quarter-note beat in 4/4, a whole note lasts four beats, a half note two, a quarter note one, an eighth note half, and a sixteenth note one quarter. These ratios stay the same at different tempos. Count both notes and rests when checking a complete bar; the beat unit changes with the meter.
Key points to remember
- Tempo changes speed, not the ratio between note values.
- A rest occupies the same time as its matching note value.
- A duration dot adds half the original value.
- The beat unit must be established before assigning beat counts.
How long are the note values in 4/4?
Note values describe relative duration. A half note is half the length of a whole note, and a quarter note is half the length of a half note. These relationships stay the same when the tempo changes. A slower tempo makes the performance take longer, but it does not turn the quarter notes into half notes.
The beat unit depends on the meter. For the first examples here, use 4/4 and let the quarter note be one beat. This makes the basic values easy to count: a whole note lasts four beats, a half note two, a quarter one, and an eighth note half a beat.
| US name | UK name | Quarter-note beats |
|---|---|---|
| Whole note | Semibreve | 4 |
| Half note | Minim | 2 |
| Quarter note | Crotchet | 1 |
| Eighth note | Quaver | 1/2 |
| Sixteenth note | Semiquaver | 1/4 |
Recognise noteheads, stems, flags and beams
A whole note has an open notehead and no stem. A half note has an open notehead with a stem. A quarter note has a filled notehead and a stem. Eighth notes add one flag; sixteenth notes add two. A beam can join shorter notes instead of drawing a separate flag on each stem.
A stem pointing up or down does not change a note's duration. Beams also do not make notes faster than their flagged equivalents. Their grouping helps a reader see the beat. Read the note value from the complete symbol rather than using stem direction or the spacing between notes as a timing rule.
In 4/4: 1 whole = 2 halves = 4 quarters = 8 eighths = 16 sixteenths.
Give every rest its full duration
A rest is a measured silence. A quarter rest lasts as long as a quarter note, and an eighth rest lasts as long as an eighth note. Keep counting while resting so that the next note arrives in the right place. Do not shorten a rest because nothing is being played.
Whole and half rests can look similar: a whole-rest block hangs below a staff line, while a half-rest block sits above one. A whole-bar rest can represent a completely silent measure, including meters where the bar is not equal to four quarter-note beats. Check the musical context instead of assuming every whole-rest symbol means four beats.
Count eighths and sixteenths evenly
For steady eighth notes in 4/4, say one-and, two-and, three-and, four-and. Each number and each and marks an equal eighth-note division. For sixteenth notes, a common spoken pattern is one-e-and-a. These syllables are counting aids; choose a system you can use consistently.
Start slowly and clap the divisions before adding pitch. If two eighth notes become one long and one short by accident, the total duration may still seem close while the rhythm is wrong. A steady subdivision makes the position of the second note clear. Unless the music specifies swing or another treatment, keep these exercise divisions even.
Read dots and ties without confusing their jobs
A dot adds half of a note’s original value. With a quarter-note beat, a dotted half note lasts three beats and a dotted quarter lasts one and a half. A tie connects notes of the same pitch into one sustained sound: add their durations without attacking the second written note again.
These are reading concepts you can practise on paper. The current browser editor has undotted whole, half, quarter, eighth and sixteenth values; it does not enter dots or ties. A slur is different from a tie: it groups a gesture and can connect different pitches without adding their durations.
Check the total and the grouping of a bar
Add the sounding values and the rests together. A complete 4/4 bar could contain a half note, a quarter rest and two eighth notes: two beats plus one beat plus one beat makes four. This check catches missing silence and accidentally repeated events.
Counting totals is only the first check. Read the grouping too, then clap the bar with a steady pulse. Make your own short combinations before moving to a more complex meter. Once you can hear the rhythm you wrote, note entry becomes a musical task rather than a sequence of symbols.
Try it yourself
Fill one 4/4 bar with a dotted half note and one rest. Then fill another with a half note, a quarter rest and two equal notes.
Show the answer
Use a quarter rest after the dotted half note. In the second bar, the two remaining notes must be eighth notes: 2 + 1 + 0.5 + 0.5 = 4 beats.
Common questions
Does a quarter note always mean one beat?
No. It is one beat when the quarter note is the counting unit, as in these simple 4/4 examples. Other meters can use another beat unit.
Can I enter dotted notes and ties in the editor?
The current editor supports undotted whole through sixteenth notes and their rests. The dot-and-tie examples here are reading or paper exercises, not supported editor controls.