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Music rests: whole, half, quarter, eighth and sixteenth
A rest is a measured silence. Each note value has a rest of the same length, so reading rests is the same skill as reading note values: a quarter rest lasts as long as a quarter note, and a half rest as long as a half note. In this guide, you'll find every rest on one chart, learn to tell them apart, and hear how silence is counted.
The rest chart
| Rest | Equals | In 4/4 | How to spot it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole rest | 2 half rests | 4 beats, or a whole silent measure | hangs from the 4th line |
| Half rest | 2 quarter rests | 2 beats | sits on the 3rd line |
| Quarter rest | 2 eighth rests | 1 beat | a vertical zigzag |
| Eighth rest | 2 sixteenth rests | half a beat | a slash with one flag |
| Sixteenth rest | 2 thirty-second rests | a quarter of a beat | a slash with two flags |
In British English, they're called semibreve, minim, crotchet, quaver and semiquaver rests.
Rests between notes
Dotted rests and multi-measure rests
- A dot after a rest adds half its value, exactly as with notes: a dotted quarter rest lasts a beat and a half.
- The whole rest also marks a full measure of silence in almost any time signature, even 3/4 or 6/8; only 4/2 traditionally uses a breve rest instead.
- When several measures in a row are silent, they're written as a multi-measure rest, a thick horizontal bar with the number of measures above it.
WorkshopNote Value TreeFull screen
Tap a rest to hear its length against the beat.
Each row lasts exactly one whole note. Click a row to hear it over 4 metronome beats: each value is half of the one above.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a whole rest and a half rest?
The whole rest hangs from the fourth line and lasts four beats in 4/4, or a whole measure. The half rest sits on the third line and lasts two beats.
How long is a quarter rest?
It lasts one beat whenever the quarter note gets the beat, as in 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4.
What does a whole rest mean in 3/4?
It means a full measure of silence, so three beats. The whole rest is used for almost any measure that's completely silent, except in 4/2, where a breve rest is traditional.