Note Values and Rhythm - Rests, Dots, Ties and Triplets

Pitch tells you which note to play. Rhythm tells you when and for how long. You can play every note of a melody correctly and it will still sound wrong if the rhythm is off, while a melody with perfect rhythm and one wrong note is still recognizable. That makes rhythm the first thing to get solid.

The beat

Under almost all music there is a steady pulse, the beat: the thing you tap your foot to. Note values describe durations relative to the beat, not in seconds. How fast the beat goes is set by the tempo, measured in beats per minute (BPM). A quarter note at 60 BPM lasts one second; at 120 BPM it lasts half a second.

ToolsOnline MetronomeAccurate browser metronome with tap tempo, accents, time signatures and subdivisions.

In this lesson we assume the most common situation, 4/4 time, where the quarter note gets one beat and there are four beats per bar. See Time signatures for other meters.

Note values

Each note value is half as long as the one before it.

So one whole note = two half notes = four quarter notes = eight eighth notes = sixteen sixteenth notes.

Eighth and sixteenth notes that fall within the same beat are usually joined by beams (thick horizontal lines) instead of separate flags. One beam means eighths, two beams mean sixteenths. Beams make it easy to see where each beat starts.

Rests

Every note value has a matching rest, a symbol for silence of the same length. Silence is part of the rhythm: count through rests just as carefully as through notes.

A whole rest is also used to mean "rest for the entire bar" in any time signature, even 3/4 or 6/8.

Dotted notes

A dot after a note adds half of its value.

• Dotted half note: 2 + 1 = 3 beats
• Dotted quarter note: 1 + 1/2 = 1 1/2 beats
• Dotted eighth note: 1/2 + 1/4 = 3/4 of a beat

The dotted quarter followed by an eighth (1 1/2 + 1/2 = 2 beats) is one of the most common rhythms in all music. The dotted eighth followed by a sixteenth gives a "skipping" feel.

A double dot adds half the value plus a quarter of the value: a double-dotted half note lasts 2 + 1 + 1/2 = 3 1/2 beats. You will meet it rarely.

Rests can be dotted too, with the same rule.

Ties

A tie is a curved line connecting two notes of the same pitch. You play the first note and hold it through the second without re-attacking. The durations add up: a half note tied to a quarter note lasts 3 beats.

Ties are needed when a note crosses a bar line, because a note cannot be written across a bar. They are also used inside a bar to keep the beats visible: instead of a single long note hiding beat 3, the writer splits it into two tied notes so you can see where beat 3 falls.

Do not confuse a tie with a slur, which connects notes of different pitches and means "play them smoothly, connected".

Counting out loud

Counting out loud is the most reliable way to learn rhythm. It feels awkward at first, but it works.

Quarter notes

Count the beats: 1 2 3 4. Every number is a quarter note.

Eighth notes

Split each beat in two and say "and" (written &) for the second half: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &. The numbers are on the beat, the "ands" are off the beat.

Eight even notes: count 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

Sixteenth notes

Split each beat in four: 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a (said "one-ee-and-uh"). Every syllable is one sixteenth note.

Counting rhythms that mix values

Always count the smallest subdivision in the passage, and only play on the syllables where a note begins. For a bar of "quarter, two eighths, dotted quarter, eighth":

The dotted quarter starts on 3 and holds through "& 4". The final eighth falls on the "&" of 4.

Triplets

A triplet fits three notes into the time of two of the same value. It is written as three notes with a small 3 above or below them.

• Eighth-note triplet: three eighth notes in the space of one quarter note (one beat). Count 1-trip-let 2-trip-let or 1 & a 2 & a.
• Quarter-note triplet: three quarter notes in the space of a half note (two beats).
• Sixteenth-note triplet: three sixteenths in the space of one eighth note.

Triplets give a rolling, "three-feel" against a straight pulse. Practise switching between straight eighths (1 & 2 &) and eighth triplets (1-trip-let 2-trip-let) against a metronome: the beat stays exactly the same, only the subdivision changes.

A melody built from groups of three, like triplets on each beat

Swing

In blues, jazz and shuffle styles, written straight eighth notes are often played swung: the first eighth of each pair is longer and the second shorter, roughly like the first two-thirds and last third of a triplet. Music marked "swing" or "shuffle" expects this.

Putting it into practice on the instrument

Rhythm practice works on any instrument and away from it. On guitar or bass, mute the strings with your fretting hand and strum or pluck only rhythms. On piano, play one key. The aim is to hear and feel the durations without worrying about notes.

Practice

1. Set a metronome to 70 BPM. Clap quarter notes for four bars, then eighth notes, then sixteenth notes, counting out loud each time.
2. Clap and count: half, quarter, quarter | dotted half, quarter | dotted quarter, eighth, half | whole.
3. Write four bars of your own rhythms in 4/4 using at least one rest, one dot and one tie, then clap them.
4. Alternate one bar of straight eighths with one bar of eighth-note triplets, keeping the metronome click steady.
5. Pick any melody you know and tap its rhythm on a table while counting the beats.

Next steps:

• Worksheets: Rhythm 1, Rhythm 2 and Rhythm 3.
• Print the note values chart.
• Lessons: Time signatures, Tempo and dynamics and How to practise effectively.
• Use the metronome for every rhythm exercise.