Rhythm and meter · Music theory
Notes and rests, dots and ties, the beat, simple and compound meters and the triplet.
Note values and rests
Duration is written with the note value. Each value lasts half as long as the one before: a whole note equals two half notes; a half note, two quarters; a quarter, two eighths, and an eighth, two sixteenths. Eighths and sixteenths in a row are joined by beams, beat by beat.
Each value has its rest, which lasts the same without sounding. The whole rest hangs from the fourth line and the half rest sits on the third.
All the note values
Each value is half the previous one, and each has a matching rest. The whole rest hangs from the fourth line; the half rest sits on the third. From the eighth on, the number of flags or beams shows the subdivision.