Note Values & RhythmDuration and Timing

A dot after a note adds half its value.

• Dotted half note = 2 + 1 = 3 beats
• Dotted quarter note = 1 + ½ = 1½ beats

Every note value has a matching rest.

Just as important as the notes you play are the moments of silence between them. A rest tells you exactly how long to be silent — and like notes, rests have specific symbols for each duration. Counting rests accurately is just as important as counting notes. A missed rest is as noticeable as a missed note.

A tie is a curved line connecting two notes of the same pitch. It means: play the first note and hold it for the combined value of both notes (similar to the dot system). Don't re-attack the second note; just let it ring through. A tie makes one longer note out of two written notes.

A slur also looks like a curved line, but it connects notes of different pitches. It means: play all the notes under the slur smoothly and connected, without an attack between them. Think legato — a flowing, uninterrupted sound from one note to the next.

These three symbols modify individual notes:

• A sharp (♯) raises a note by a half step (the smallest interval in Western music)
• A flat (♭) lowers a note by a half step
• A natural (♮) cancels a previous sharp or flat and returns the note to its original pitch

On a piano keyboard, the black keys are all sharps or flats — C♯ is the same key as D♭, F♯ is the same as G♭, and so on. These are called enharmonic equivalents: same pitch, different name.

When sharps or flats appear in the key signature (at the beginning of the piece), they apply to those notes throughout the entire piece (a natural can cancel a sharp or a flat from the key signature as an accidental). When they appear in the music itself (called accidentals), they apply only until the next bar line.