BazzLow
ENIT
Module 3 · Lesson 4

Reading rhythm on the staff

Read note values, rests and beams on the staff and play them in time.

Before this lesson: 2.6 Dots and ties · 3.2 The staff and the bass clef

On the staff, one symbol carries two pieces of information at once: where it sits tells you the pitch, and its shape tells you how long it lasts.

Position and shape

A note’s position gives the pitch. Its shape (notehead, stem, flags) gives the length. The note values are the ones you learned in lesson 2.2.

Stems and beams

  • Notes below the middle line usually have the stem going up, on the right side of the head.
  • Notes on or above the middle line usually have it going down, on the left side.
  • The direction does not change the length.
  • Beams replace flags for groups of eighths and sixteenths, and normally show the beats.

Rests on the staff

  • The whole rest hangs below the 4th line.
  • The half rest sits on the middle line.
  • A whole rest also means “a whole bar of rest”, in any time signature.
Bass clef staffFour bars of 4/4 on the open strings. Bar 1: E half note, two A quarter notes. Bar 2: four D eighth notes in two beamed pairs, then a G and an E quarter note. Bar 3: A quarter note, half rest, D quarter note. Bar 4: a whole-bar rest. Beat numbers are written under each bar.441234123412341234
Four bars of 4/4 on the open strings. Bar 1: E half note, two A quarter notes. Bar 2: four D eighth notes in two beamed pairs, then a G and an E quarter note. Bar 3: A quarter note, half rest, D quarter note. Bar 4: a whole-bar rest. Beat numbers are written under each bar.

A reading order

When you meet a new line of music, read it in this order: first find the beat (time signature, beams), then the pitches, then play slowly with a metronome.

Try it

Play the four bars above at 60 BPM, counting aloud. Raise the tempo only when every note and rest is in the right place.

New terms