Note reading · Staff
Rests
A rest is silence with a length. Five shapes, five durations, and two of them are easy to confuse.
Rests
How to practise
- 01Fix the look-alikes first: a whole rest hangs under the fourth line, a half rest sits on the third.
- 02Learn the hooks: the quarter rest has none, the eighth has one, the sixteenth has two.
- 03Count rests out loud like notes. Silence still has to be measured.
Common questions
How do I tell a whole rest from a half rest?
A whole rest hangs below the fourth line like a lamp; a half rest sits on the third line like a hat. One line apart, double the value.
Quarter, eighth and sixteenth rests?
The quarter rest is a plain zigzag, the eighth rest has one hook, the sixteenth has two.
Do rests have to be counted?
Yes. The beat keeps running while you are silent; count it or you will come in late.
Should the hand leave the string during a rest?
No. Keep the fingers above the string so the shape stays. Lifting means finding the position again and the rhythm suffers.