Quarter Notes and Rests

Quarter notes and rests are the basic note we’ve been using since kindergarten (we use to call them “ta” and “sh”). They are both worth 1 beat each.

We can count these using     1      2      3      4

The important thing to remember is:

A note makes sound

A rest is silent

Let try a couple examples:

If you were count those quarter notes out loud it would sound like this:

“one two three four”     

If you were to count those quarter notes and rests it would sound like this:

“one        three four”    

 

Did you notice I didn’t count “two” out loud? Why?

Because the second note is a rest, we count it in our head but not out loud. (Remember, rests are silent beats).

Here are some flash cards for practice (you can print these out to mix them up and create your own rhythms!):