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Rhythm means the duration of music's sounds and silences, along with the patterns they make. The symbols of rhythmic notation - notes and rests - are related to one another.
Whole note: the longest single note in general use; twice the value of the half note. (4 counts.)
Half note: half the value of the whole note, twice the value of the quarter note. (2 counts.)
Quarter note: half the value of the half note, twice the value of the eighth note. (1 count.)
Eighth note: half the value of the quarter note, twice the value of the sixteenth note.
Sixteenth note: half the value of the eighth note, twice the value of the thirty-second note.
Thirty-second note: half the value of the sixteenth note; the smallest value in common use.
NOTE: When more than one 8th, 16th or 32nd note appears in succession, the flags are often replaced by beams.
Other durations are made possible by other symbols:
The tie: a curved line connecting adjacent notes of the same pitch, binding them into a single sound/duration. For example: a half note (2 counts) tied to a half note (2 counts) = 4 counts. Note: A curved line is also used to mean "smooth," but the notes they cover are not the same. Rests are never tied.
The dot: A dot extends the duration of the note or rest it follows by half the value. For example, a dot following a half note (2 counts in duration) adds 1/2 of 2, or 1, to the value, resulting in a note that lasts 3 counts.
A second dot adds half the value of the first dot. So, a double dotted half note = 3 1/2 counts, or a half note+quarter note+eighth note.
A third dot adds half the value of the second dot...and so on.
Most music moves along at a steady pace commonly measured by the beat. That is what you tap your toes or snap your fingers to. It's usually what a conductor is indicating with their arm motions. Tempo is the speed of that beat. You can usually find a tempo indication at the beginning of a piece of music, often using a quarter note as its baseline, like the tempo at the left.
Sometimes tempo is indicated by an Italian word, because they began this practice in the 18th century, when Italian was the most widely used language among musicians. (Bpm= beats per minute, or, how many times you would tap your toe in the span of a minute. This measurement can be checked with a metronome.)
If you want to practice some rhythmic dictation, click the link at the left!
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