Half Rest
A half rest is a small filled rectangle sitting on top of the middle line of the staff. It means two beats of silence in common time.
Whole rest hangs, half rest sits. Some people remember it as the whole rest being heavier, so it falls below the line — silly, and it works.
How To Spot Half Rest
A block resting on the third line. Compare it with a whole rest, which hangs from the fourth.
Find It In Thirty Seconds
Find a half rest, count two beats of silence, and come in exactly on the next beat. Coming in early after a rest is the most common ensemble mistake there is.
Open any piece of sheet music on this site and do it now. Reading is a recognition skill, and recognition is built by finding things, not by reading about them.
Related Topics...
How to Read Sheet Music: Learn how to read sheet music using interactive lessons from Chordzy. Or browse our various reading music topics.
Music Notation Glossary: Every symbol on a page of piano music, explained in one sentence each — clefs, note values, rests, accidentals, dynamics and repeat marks.
Measure (Bar): A measure — also called a bar — is the space between two bar lines. The time signature says how many beats each measure holds.
Quarter Rest: A quarter rest is the squiggle that means one beat of silence in common time.
Whole Rest: A whole rest is a small filled rectangle hanging below the fourth line of the staff. It means silence for a whole measure.
Readers Also Look For
Eighth Rest: An eighth rest is a small slanted stroke with a single flag, meaning half a beat of silence.
Half Note: A half note is a hollow note head with a stem, and it lasts two beats in common time — half a whole note.
More in This Section
Key Signature: The key signature is the group of sharps or flats just after the clef. It applies to every note of those letter names, in every octave, for the whole piece.
Ledger Lines: Ledger lines are the short lines added above or below a staff to carry notes that are too high or too low to fit on it. Each one continues the pattern of lines…