This post is one of a 2-part series of free basic music theory lessons on my blog, musictheoryde-mystified.com. You can see the complete list here. Please feel welcome to make a comment or ask a question.
What Is A Rest?
A rest is a silent note. Imagine that you have to make room for an important, loud note played on another instrument.
Every note value has an equivalent symbol for a rest. Rests are named after the note values they replace. A rest that lasts for a crotchet (quarter note) is called a crotchet rest (or quarter note rest).
Here are the note values from 5. Note Values 1 with their matching rest values. As previously suggested, don’t worry about really short notes and rests to start with.
Just like note values, the length of a rest can be extended by half by placing a dot after it.
Counting Rests
You have to play a rest, just like you play a note.
For example, in 4/4 try counting crotchets and only playing the first and 3rd. It feels like counting minims, except that you cut the note short at a specific moment. Here, that’s the start of beat 2 or 4. You’ll hear a metronome ticking every beat.
You should think of the cutoff point as a deliberate act, as if someone else is playing an important note that needs to be heard. You cut the note off by “playing” the rest, as if you have to squash the note to stop it. Some players tap the beats with a foot while playing; this may help…
The importance of rests is more obvious when they’re on the strong beats rather than the weak beats.
Two Types Of Rests
Broadly speaking, rests fall into either of two categories depending on how they feel when we play them.
- Off-beat rests are rests that feel like they just stop the note from being a longer note. They don’t change the overall character of the rhythm. For longer notes, these include rests on weak beats, as in our first example.
- On-beat rests feel like they’ve displaced the next note, forcing the note off the beat (or strong beat). Compared to the time signature’s natural rhythm, they make the notes feel “against the grain”. NOTE: This isn’t a value judgement. In fact, on-beat rests often make the music feel more exciting.
NOTE: The following examples and exercises have a double bar with 2 dots at the end. This is the repeat sign and indicates that the piece should be played a second time. For more on repeat signs and other navigation symbols, please visit How To Navigate Music 1: Animated Tour.
Shorter rests have a more obvious effect on the rhythm, so here’s two examples using quavers. They’re also a great warm-up for getting used to counting and playing rests. Try playing and counting along.
The last example, playing off the beat (between the beats) after an on-beat rest, is known as syncopation. We’ll look at syncopation in part 2 of this course.
NOTE: If you find these too hard, visit 3. Beats, Tempo And Timing for some help on how to count and play.
Try These…
Here are a few exercises for reading rests. Try them on your instrument before you listen to them. If you find that hard, play along to them first, then play them by yourself.
NOTE: Many percussion instruments have no control over how long a note sounds. For such instruments, the difference between writing bar 2 of the first example as crotchets followed by crotchet rests or as minims is moot. It would make sense for such parts to we written as longer notes without rests. However, for on-beat rests, the presence of a rest helps players to capture the feeling of playing between the beats rather than on them.
This post is one of a growing series of free basic music theory lessons on my blog, musictheoryde-mystified.com. You can see the complete list here.
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NEXT LESSON: 8. What Is A Scale?
PART 1 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents