Rhythm, Notes, Rests, Dots, and Triplets

Rhythm - patterns of duration and accent of musical sounds moving through time.

Note Value - also called time value, the term used to refer to the duration of a sound.

Note Values

1. Whole Note - the longest note value
2. Half Note - half of a whole note; two halfs in a whole
3. Quarter Note - half of a half note; two quarters in a half, four in a whole
4. Eighth Note - half of a quarter note; two eighths in a quarter, four in a half and eight in a whole note
5. Sixteenth Note - half of an eighth; two in an eighth, four in a quarter, eight in a half and sixteen in a whole

Parts of a Music Note Symbol

1. Notehead - either hollow or solid
2. Stem - attached to the notehead; can go up or down
3. Flag - attached to eighth and shorter durations; each additional flag decreases the note value by half; always drawn to the right
4. Beam - used to join flagged notes together

Rests - used to indicate durations of silence. Rest values are the same as note values - whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, etc.

1. Whole Rest - hangs below the fourth line of the staff
2. Half Rest - sits on top of the third line of the staff
3. Quarter Rest
4. Eighth Rest - uses hooks
5. Sixteenth Rest - gains an additional hook for its diminished durational value

Dots and Triplets

Dots - affect the note value by adding one half to the duration

1. dotted half note is equal to a half note plus a quarter note
2. an undotted note is divided into two equal parts (quarter note = two eighths)
3. a dotted note is divided into three (dotted eighth = three sixteeths)
4. double dots indicate the note value to be increased by half of the preceding dot (double dotted half = half + quarter + eighth)

Triplets - notes normally divisible into two parts can be divided into three; the three notes will be written as notes symbols half the value of the original note value; when this is done it is called a triplet pattern. Additional symbols must be included to notate a triplet properly.