Rests

A silence you count

A rest is a silence. You count it, but you do not play. Every note value has a rest of the same length. A crotchet rest is a zigzag. A quaver rest has one hook, a semiquaver rest two.

Hangs or sits

The semibreve and minim rests are both small blocks. A semibreve rest hangs below a line, like something heavy. A minim rest sits on top of a line, like a hat.

A whole bar of silence

A bar with no notes at all uses the semibreve rest. That is true in a bar of 2 or 3 beats too. A rest can have a dot too. It works the same way as a dot on a note.

Remember

• A rest is a silence, as long as its note.
• Semibreve rest hangs. Minim rest sits.
• Crotchet rest: a zigzag. Quaver rest: one hook. Semiquaver rest: two.