Counting Rests: Whole, Half, Quarter, and Eighth Rests

Rests are used to indicate silence. In a previous lesson on note lengths, we saw how long each rest lasts. In this lesson, we will learn how to count rests in time signatures where a quarter note gets the beat.

Here is the diagram from the previous lesson, showing how long each rest lasts:

In the last lesson on time signatures, we saw how many beats each note lasts. A whole note lasts for 4 beats, a half note lasts for 2 beats, and a quarter note lasts for 1 beat:

Therefore a whole rest lasts for 4 beats, a half rest lasts for 2 beats, a quarter rest lasts for 1 beat, and an eighth rest lasts for half a beat:

This is only for time signatures where the bottom number is 4. A quarter note gets the beat in these kinds of time signatures.

Here are some examples as to how these rests can be used (each bold number indicates a note played, numbers that are not bold indicate silence):

Let’s look at what’s happening in each measure:

Measure 1: Silence for one beat on beat 4

Measure 2: Silence for two beats starting on beat 3, lasting until the next measure

Measure 3: Silence for half a beat on beat 2, and half a beat on the second half of beat 3

In this example we see:

Measure 1: Silence on beats 2 and 4 with two quarter rests (each quarter rest lasts for one beat)

Measure 2: Silence for a whole measure with a whole rest

Measure 3: Silence for the first 2 beats with a half rest

Practice

Download the free worksheet Counting Rests: Whole, Half, Quarter and Eighth:

Counting Rests Worksheet 1

Practice counting rests in 4/4 time with this worksheet!

1 page worksheet + answer key

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Next: Dotted Notes, Ties, and Dotted Rests