Quarter Note
A quarter note is a filled-in note head with a stem, and it lasts one beat in common time.
This is the beat you tap your foot to in most music. Four of them fill a measure of 4/4, which is why that time signature is called common time.
How To Spot Quarter Note
A solid black oval with a stem and no flag. If a note is filled in and has nothing hanging off the stem, it is a quarter note.
Find It In Thirty Seconds
Tap a steady pulse and play the quarter notes in the first line of any piece, one per tap. If you have to rush to keep up, tap slower — the tempo is yours to choose while learning.
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.
Eighth Note: An eighth note is a filled note head with a stem and one flag, and it lasts half a beat in common time. Two of them fill one quarter-note beat.
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.
Quarter Rest: A quarter rest is the squiggle that means one beat of silence in common time.
Time Signature: The time signature is the pair of numbers after the clef. The top number says how many beats are in each measure; the bottom says which note value gets one bea…
More in This Section
Repeat Sign: A repeat sign is a double bar line with two dots. Play up to it, then go back to the matching sign facing the other way — or to the beginning if there is none…