Rhythm: How Long Notes Last

One bar of 4/4, five ways

In 4/4 time every bar has 4 beats. Tap your foot steadily and each tap is one beat. Each row below fills the same bar, so the notes line up with the same taps. Press Play to hear a count-in of four clicks, then the rhythm.

Coloured bars show how long each note lasts · 80 beats per minute

1 whole = 2 halves = 4 quarters = 8 eighths = 16 sixteenths

Each note value lasts half as long as the one above it. Two half notes take the same time as one whole note, two quarter notes take the same time as one half note, and so on down.

Note values at a glance

How to count rhythms

1. Tap a steady beat with your foot and count it out loud: 1, 2, 3, 4, then start again at 1 for the next bar.
2. Whole and half notes: play on the number, then keep holding while you count the rest. A half note on beat 1 rings through beat 2.
3. Quarter notes: play one note on every foot tap.
4. Eighth notes: two notes per tap. Say "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &". The numbers land when your foot goes down and the "&" lands when it comes up.
5. Sixteenth notes: four notes per tap. Say "1 e & a", which sounds like "one-ee-and-uh".

Good to know

• On its own, an eighth note has one flag and a sixteenth note has two. In groups, the flags join up into beams: one beam for eighths and two for sixteenths. They are usually grouped one beat at a time.
• Stems can point up or down. The direction never changes how long a note lasts.
• Only the whole note has no stem. The half note has a hollow head and a stem. From the quarter note down, the head is filled in.
• Reggae bass lines often mix long held notes with short ones, so counting carefully keeps you locked in with the drummer.
• Coming next: Lesson 6, rests, the symbols for silence. Dotted notes come after that.

Practice: how many beats?