Rests

The notes don't have to always be making sound. The places where you take a break are called rests. Just like the notes, there are rests that are held for different amount of times. They have the same names as the notes, only "rest" is at the end instead of "note." Whole notes are equal to whole rests. The whole note is played for four beats and held for four beats. Whole rests are just held without any sound for the four beats.

   Whole rest are usually on a line and it looks like a hole or an upside down hat. The half rest looks like a hat. The most common rest is a quarter rest and is held for a beat. The smaller rests look like sevens. As the nots get smaller, the rests add a line at the top. The chart above helps illustrate this.