It’s easy to overlook the study of rhythm, but rhythm is what makes music interesting. You can have a gorgeous melody and accompaniment, but without the knowledge of how to actually write that song of yours in standard musical notation, it’s useless – or at least not living up to its full potential.
Reading rhythm in sheet music is like reading punctuation – it’s very, very easy to simply scan over and recognize, but it shapes the feel, flow, and emphasis of music.
Reading rhythm in sheet music is like reading punctuation – it’s very, very easy to simply scan over and recognize, but it shapes the feel, flow, and emphasis of music.
Note Values and Modifiers
Students may want to refer to a table of relative note values in conventional Western notation.
Note Values
Note values are relatively simple to learn. Note values simply represent the duration of notes.
IMPORTANT:In 4/4 time:
A whole note represents 4 quarter notes: four fourths, which lasts as long as a measure.
A half note represents 2 quarter notes: two fourths, half of a measure.
A quarter note is one of the most common note values; it represents 1/4 of a measure, or one beat.
An eighth note is the second most common note value; it represents half of a quarter note. Count “one – and – two – and – three – and – four – and” aloud; these are eighth notes, both the numbers and the “ands.”
A sixteenth note is half of an eighth note. Count "one - e - and - a - two - e - and - a - three - e - and - a - four - e - and - a" aloud; these are sixteenth notes, each number, 'e', 'and' , and 'a' (pronounced 'ah').
A thirty-second note is half of a sixteenth note.
A sixty-fourth note is half of a thirty-second note.
And so on, and so on. Notes smaller than sixty-fourth notes are not very common. As a self-test, and in four-four time: 1. How many quarter notes are in a measure? 2. How many eighth notes are in a measure? 3. How many half notes are in a whole note? 4. How many eighth notes are in a quarter note? 5. How many eighth notes are in a half note? 6. How many sixty-fourth notes are in a quarter note? 7. How many thirty-second notes are in a whole note?
(Answers: 1. Four 2. Eight 3. Two 4. Two 5. Four 6. Sixteen 7. Thirty-two)
IMPORTANT:In 4/4 time:
A whole note represents 4 quarter notes: four fourths, which lasts as long as a measure.
A half note represents 2 quarter notes: two fourths, half of a measure.
A quarter note is one of the most common note values; it represents 1/4 of a measure, or one beat.
An eighth note is the second most common note value; it represents half of a quarter note. Count “one – and – two – and – three – and – four – and” aloud; these are eighth notes, both the numbers and the “ands.”
A sixteenth note is half of an eighth note. Count "one - e - and - a - two - e - and - a - three - e - and - a - four - e - and - a" aloud; these are sixteenth notes, each number, 'e', 'and' , and 'a' (pronounced 'ah').
A thirty-second note is half of a sixteenth note.
A sixty-fourth note is half of a thirty-second note.
And so on, and so on. Notes smaller than sixty-fourth notes are not very common. As a self-test, and in four-four time: 1. How many quarter notes are in a measure? 2. How many eighth notes are in a measure? 3. How many half notes are in a whole note? 4. How many eighth notes are in a quarter note? 5. How many eighth notes are in a half note? 6. How many sixty-fourth notes are in a quarter note? 7. How many thirty-second notes are in a whole note?
(Answers: 1. Four 2. Eight 3. Two 4. Two 5. Four 6. Sixteen 7. Thirty-two)
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