How to Read Sheet Music and Its Notes and Rests
Recognize Quarter, Half, Whole, Eighth and Sixteenth Notes
May 16, 2009
Musicians can determine a song’s melody by reading where notes fall on the musical staff. Learning the five most common types of notes and rests will help them unlock the tune’s rhythm.
Read Quarter Notes, Half Notes, and Whole Notes
Anyone who’s studied a piece of sheet music probably noticed several types of notes running up and down the musical staff. In 4/4 time—the most common time signature--the quarter note, which looks like a black dot with a line sticking up from the right side or hanging down from the left represents one beat.
Musicians can count out a few measures to get a feel for beats. A quick look at the time signature’s top number will show how many beats each measure gets. In 4/4 time, musicians will count four beats for each measure.
A half note which looks similar to the quarter note except that it isn’t filled in represents two beats in 4/4 time. A half note is played for twice as long as a quarter note.
A whole note which is simply a hollow circle with no stick represents four beats in 4/4 time. It is played for twice as long as a half note and four times as long as a quarter note.
Eighth Notes and Sixteenth Notes
In 4/4 time, there are notes representing less time than one beat. Eighth notes look like quarter notes with the addition of a flag curling down from the top of the stick. Two eighth notes equal one beat. If several eighth notes appear in a row, their flags are replaced by a connecting bar across the sticks.
Sixteenth notes look like eighth notes but have two flags instead of one. Four sixteenth notes equal one beat. If several sixteenth notes appear in a row, their flags are replaced by two connecting bars across the sticks.
Sheet Music Includes Rests
The notes described above each designate when a musician should sing or play. Each of these notes has a corresponding symbol called a rest which indicates silence. In 4/4 time, a whole rest covers four beats of silence. This rest looks like a black rectangle hanging from the second line of the staff. A half rest which designates two beats of silence, looks very similar. Half rests are black rectangles resting on top of the third line of the staff. Musicians can remember the difference between these two rests by remembering a whole rest hangs down because it’s heavier, or worth more beats. A half rest looks like a hat on top of the line and half and hat are similar in sound.
Quarter rests equal one beat of silence and look like a squashed number three. Eighth and sixteenth rests equal half a beat and a fourth of a beat respectively. They are similar to each other, resembling a key or half stick figure with either one or two flags.
Dotted Notes or Rests
When reading sheet music, a musician may run across a note or rest with a tiny dot to its right. This dot indicates that the note or rest is worth its original value plus half. For example, in 4/4 time, a dotted half note is sustained for three beats and a dotted quarter note for one and a half beats.
Once musicians become familiar with these notes and rests, the basics of the musical staff, key signatures, and time signatures, they can try working through simple melodies. Reading sheet music is very similar to reading print. Just as children start out on Dr. Suess rather than War and Peace, musicians need to find simple melodies to practice. And just as children begin with the basics and learn more complicated rules as they progress, musicians should expect to learn more and more as their understanding of music increases.
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