1.2 Notes, rests and accidentals

In music, a note (Latin: nota) is a symbol denoting a musical sound. In English usage a note is also the sound itself. A note is a sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound.

In this chapter, you'll learn about the duration of the quarter note, half note, whole note, and eighth note. You'll also learn what rests are and there duration. After that, you'll learn about accidentals, such as sharps, flats, and the natural sign.

1. Notes

In musical notation, you can write down the duration of a note, the note value. This allows you to notate rhythms, the alternation of short and long notes. The length of a note is expressed in the number of beats a note lasts. There are notes of 1 beat, of 2 beats and 4 beats but also of a half beat or a quarter beat. The note values are always twice as long or twice as short in relation to each other.

	quarter note	note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note, one count.
	half note	note played for the value of two quarter notes, two counts.
	whole note	note played for the value of four quarter notes, four counts.
	dotted half note	note played for the value of three quarter notes, three counts.
	eighth note	note played for half the value of a quarter note.
	tie	curved line connecting notes on the same line or space. Notes are held down for the combined value of both notes.

Example

How are multiple eighth notes notated?

In Chapter 1.5 Articulation you learn more about the use of ties and slurs.

2. Rests

Rests are signs used to indicate silences. You don't play then, but you have to continue counting. Rests, like note values, have a certain duration. Like notes, there are rests of 1 beat, 2 beats, 4 beats and so on.

	quarter rest	rest for the value of a quarter note.
	half rest	rest played for the value of a half note.
	whole rest	rest played for the value of a whole note. Kan ook betekenen: hele maat rust.
	eighth rest	rest played for half the value of a quarter rest.

The duration of notes and rests are expressed in beats and not seconds. You say: a note lasts 1 beat and not a note lasts 1 second. Of course, a note of 1 beat can last a second, but also 2 seconds or 1.5 seconds or 0.8 seconds. It depends on how fast you play, on the tempo. You learn more about tempo in Chapter 1.7 Tempo.

3. Sharps and flats

This chapter provides an overview of the main theory from Note Reading chapter 6. Accidentals, where you learn about sharps and flats.

	flat	lowers a note a half step.
	sharp	raises a note a half step.

Theory and practise

Learn more about sharps and flats and practise their names in Note Reading chapter 6. Accidentals.

4. Accidentals

	natural sign	cancels any previous accidental (a note after a natural is always a white key).
	accidental	a sign placed before a note: flat, sharp or natural.
	key signature	accidentals placed at the beginning of each staff and affects all of the notes of that name throughout the piece.
	accidentals	sharps or flats not given in the key signature, occur during the piece.

Example

The different accidentals.