HearmonyMusic Note Values: How Many Beats Each Note and Rest Gets
In 4/4 time, a whole note lasts 4 beats, a half note 2 beats, a quarter note 1 beat, an eighth note half a beat and a sixteenth note a quarter of a beat. Each value is exactly half the one before it, and every note has a matching rest of the same length. A dot after a note adds half its value, so a dotted half note lasts 3 beats and a dotted quarter note 1½.
Note values chart: notes, rests and beats
This chart lists the five note values you will meet in almost every piece, with the British names, what each looks like, its length in 4/4 and in 6/8, and the matching rest.
| Note (US / UK name) | What it looks like | Beats in 4/4 | Eighth-note counts in 6/8 | Matching rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note / semibreve | Open oval, no stem | 4 | 8 (longer than a 6/8 bar) | Whole rest: a small block hanging from the fourth line |
| Half note / minim | Open oval with a stem | 2 | 4 | Half rest: a small block sitting on the middle line |
| Quarter note / crotchet | Filled oval with a stem | 1 | 2 | Quarter rest: a vertical zigzag |
| Eighth note / quaver | Filled oval, stem, one flag (or one beam) | ½ | 1 | Eighth rest: a slanted stroke with one flag, like a 7 |
| Sixteenth note / semiquaver | Filled oval, stem, two flags (or two beams) | ¼ | ½ | Sixteenth rest: the same stroke with two flags |
To tell the whole rest from the half rest, use the old trick: the half rest sits on the line like a hat, the whole rest hangs down like a hole. A whole rest also has a second job: it marks a full bar of silence in any time signature, so in 3/4 it lasts three beats.
When eighth or sixteenth notes come in groups, their flags are joined by beams. One beam means eighths, two beams mean sixteenths, and the beams are usually grouped so you can see where each beat starts.
How many beats is each note? It depends on the time signature
Note values are fractions of each other, not fixed numbers of beats. A quarter note gets one beat only when the time signature's bottom number is 4, as in 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4.
- In 4/4 or 3/4: the quarter note is the beat. A half note is 2 beats, a whole note 4.
- In 2/2 (cut time): the half note is the beat, so a quarter note is half a beat.
- In 6/8: you count eighth notes, but the felt beat is a dotted quarter note (three eighths). A bar of 6/8 holds two dotted quarters, or one dotted half note.
So "how many beats is a quarter note?" has the honest answer "one, in most music". Our page on time signatures explains how the two numbers set which note gets the beat.
Dotted notes and ties
Dots and ties are the two ways to make a note longer than its plain value. A dot adds half the note's own value; a tie joins two notes of the same pitch into one sound.
| Dotted note | Calculation | Beats in 4/4 |
|---|---|---|
| Dotted half note | 2 + 1 | 3 |
| Dotted quarter note | 1 + ½ | 1½ |
| Dotted eighth note | ½ + ¼ | ¾ |
| Double-dotted half note | 2 + 1 + ½ | 3½ |
A dotted quarter is almost always followed by an eighth note to complete two beats: "1 (2) and". Played as dotted quarter, eighth, half, it gives the "long, short, long" pattern you hear in countless melodies.
A tie is a curved line between two notes of the same pitch. You play the first one and hold it through the second, without a new attack. Ties are how a note crosses a bar line, since a dot can't. A curve between two different pitches is a slur, which means "play smoothly", not "hold".
Rests can be dotted too; a dotted quarter rest is 1½ beats of silence. Rests are never tied.
How do you count note values?
You count notes by saying a syllable for every subdivision of the beat, so that each note starts on a word. These are the counting syllables used in most American classrooms.
| Value | Count in one 4/4 bar |
|---|---|
| Whole notes | 1 2 3 4 |
| Half notes | 1 2 3 4 |
| Quarter notes | 1 2 3 4 |
| Eighth notes | 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & |
| Sixteenth notes | 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a |
| Eighth-note triplets | 1 trip-let 2 trip-let (three notes in the time of two) |
Bold marks the syllables where a note starts. On the other syllables you keep counting silently while the note holds. Try it with a mixed bar: quarter, two eighths, half note is "1, 2 &, 3 (4)".
Always count out loud with a metronome at a slow tempo, around 60 beats per minute. Clapping without counting lets long notes shrink, and long notes are where most rhythm mistakes happen.
Common mistakes with note values
- Cutting long notes short. Half and whole notes tend to lose their last beat. Keep counting through them, and tap the beat with your foot.
- Mixing up the whole and half rest. Hat on the line is half; hole hanging below is whole.
- Treating a dot as a fixed half beat. The dot adds half of that note: a full beat on a half note, half a beat on a quarter.
- Re-playing a tied note. Tied notes sound once. If the second note has a different pitch, it is a slur, not a tie.
- Assuming a quarter note is always one beat. Check the bottom number of the time signature first.
Clap-along self-test
Clap each bar in 4/4 while counting aloud, then check the answers.
- Quarter, quarter, half. (Claps on 1, 2 and 3; hold through 4.)
- Half, two eighths, quarter. (Claps on 1, 3, "&" of 3, and 4.)
- Dotted quarter, eighth, half. (Claps on 1, "&" of 2, and 3.)
- Quarter rest, three quarters. (Silence on 1; claps on 2, 3 and 4.)
- Four sixteenths, then three quarters. (Claps on 1 e & a, 2, 3 and 4.)
Then answer without clapping: how many eighth notes fit in a dotted quarter? (3) How many sixteenths in a half note? (8) How many beats does a dotted half note get in 3/4? (3, a full bar.)
Once rhythms like these feel easy, try the off-beat patterns in our guide to syncopation, and put rhythm and pitch together with how to read sheet music.
Practice rhythm in Hearmony
Hearmony trains note values by ear in its Rhythm Ranch adventure. The "Quarter notes", "Eighth notes" and "Syncopation" units play a one-bar rhythm after four count-in clicks; you pick it from three beat grids, then tap it back on a pad. Hearmony shows rhythms as dots on a beat grid rather than as written notes, so it pairs well with the counting table above. Rhythm Ranch is part of Hearmony Pro, while the free Note Reading side quest covers the pitch side of reading: note names on the keyboard and the treble staff. The ear training for beginners plan shows how rhythm fits into a daily routine. Hearmony is an iPhone app, available on the App Store.
For the full family of values, including 32nd notes and longer values like the breve, see the reference entry on note values.