Note Values and Rhythm

Understanding Rhythms in Music

We also need to know how to read rhythms when reading music. This tells us how long or short a note should be played for and where in the bar they should be played.

Differentiating Rhythms

We can differentiate rhythms by:

• Color: Whether they're colored in or not
• Stems: If they have stems or multiple little stems coming off them

So, these are things we need to watch out for in the future.

Focus on Details

When looking at the stems and notes, they all look very similar, but it's the small details that we're going to need to focus on. Let's look at some examples of notated rhythms.

Types of Notes

Whole Note

• Duration: Lasts for four beats.
• Appearance: Just a circle, like an O.

"This is going to last for the whole bar‚ a whole note."

Example Sound: Playing our big, thick E string:

1, 2, 3, 4.
(Nice and long, no pauses, no stops‚ just a whole note for four beats.)

Half Note

• Duration: This is half of a whole note‚ two beats long.
• Appearance: Looks very similar to a whole note but has a stem.

"This is going to be for two beats."

Example Sound: On the E string:

1, 2.
(You can hear that note is half as long.)

Quarter Note

• Duration: A quarter of a bar‚ one beat long.
• Appearance: Colored in and has a stem.

"We're going to be playing as we're tapping our foot."

Example Sound: On the low E string:

1, 2, 3, 4.

Eighth Notes

• Duration: Half of a quarter note‚ lasts for half a beat each.
• Appearance: Colored in, has a stem, and has a small stem coming off the top.

"In a bar, we're going to get eight of them."

Example Sound: On the E string:

1 and 2 and 3 and 4.

Summary of Note Types

• Whole Note: Circle, not colored in, lasting for four beats:
  1, 2, 3, 4.

• Half Note: Head isn't colored in, but has a stem, lasting for two beats:
  1, 2.

• Quarter Notes: Colored in and have a stem, last for one beat each:
  1, 2, 3, 4.

• Eighth Notes: Colored in, have a stem, and a small stem coming off the top. They last for half a beat each:
  1 and 2 and 3 and 4.

Understanding Rests

We also need to read rests. Rests are pauses in the music. Just as with notes, rests are important as it's often the notes you don't play that make the music sound so great.

Types of Rests

• Whole Note Rest: A black box underneath the line.

"If you imagine walking along it and falling in the hole, that's how we can remember it."

Duration: Lasts for four beats:
1, 2, 3, 4.

• Half Note Rest: Looks like almost a hat above the music (a line with a little black box above it).

Duration: Lasts for two beats:
1, 2.

• Quarter Note Rest: Looks like a squiggly shape, almost like a three.

Duration: Lasts for one beat:
1.

• Eighth Note Rest: Looks like a tiny number seven.

Duration: Lasts for half a beat:
If I was to play that as an example on the guitar:
1, 1, 1.

Putting It All Together

This may feel a bit theoretical and overwhelming at the minute. But in the next section, when we come on to playing these examples, it's going to make a lot more sense, and we'll be going over it together.

"Don't worry if you're feeling overwhelmed at the minute; take it slowly, have a little read over it, but we're going to come on and put it into practice in a second."