Rhythm tells us how long sounds or silences last. Sounds are written as Notes and silences are written as Rests.
There are 5 basic types of symbols that tell us how long or short a note or rest is. The longest basic symbol is called a Whole Note / Whole Rest. Think of this like a pizza that we can cut into smaller and smaller slices.
- Whole Note/Rest — the entire pizza
- Half Note/Rest — pizza cut in 2 pieces; there are two halves in a whole
- Quarter Note/Rest — pizza cut in 4 pieces; there are two quarters in a half, and 4 quarters in a whole
- Eighth Note/Rest — pizza cut in 8 pieces; how many 8ths fit in a quarter, half, or whole?
- Sixteenth Note/Rest — pizza cut in 16 pieces; how many 16ths fit in an eighth, quarter, half, or whole?
It can be easier to visualize these relationships with a “Note Pyramid.”
