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 it
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: Eighth Note in piano music. 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 quarte…
Half Note: A half note on the piano staff: how to spot the hollow head, and a thirty-second hunt for one on a real page.
Quarter Rest: A quarter rest in piano music: how to spot the squiggle, and a thirty-second hunt for one on a real page.
Time Signature: Time Signature in piano music. The time signature is the pair of numbers after the clef. The top number says how many beats are in each measure; the bottom say…
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Repeat Sign: Repeat Sign in piano music. 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…
