This reading music lesson is a supplement to the Alfred’s Essentials of Music Theory self-study workbook. While no book is perfect for learning how to read music, this is one of the best available. The concise explanations, brief practice exercises, ear-training CD’s, glossary of music terms, and answer key make it an excellent value. Buy this top-rated self-study course for beginners to advanced musicians and follow along with me. |
Quarter rests are those crazy little squiggly-looking symbols that are worth 1 beat of silence.
They are the quiet counterpart to quarter notes.
In fact, do you remember the conversation we had in an earlier lesson about the importance of both sound and silence in music?
Well, let’s review it again now that you have learned a few notes and rests.
Notes vs Rests
Every note (sound) in music has a corresponding rest (silence).
They have the same name and they even share the same value (total number of beats or counts). Review the lesson on note values.
Here’s a quick list:
1) Quarter Note & Quarter Rest
2) Half Note & Half Rest
3) Whole Note & Whole Rest
It’s time to shift gears again and talk about how we organize all these notes and rests to make it easier to read. That’s coming up in the next lesson!
Thank you so much, Teresa Rose, for your very easy to follow lessons! I am in my 50s and just learning to play the clarinet. I have been having difficulty understanding some very basic elements but I no longer feel so foggy.
Kellie 🙂