RESTS

Just as a note tells us when to play within a musical piece, a rest tells us when not to play.

The table below shows the note value and the rest value associated with each note.

We count the beats of a rest the same way we count a note’s beat value.

Let’s listen and look at these examples.

Whole note and whole note rests

Pay close attention to how the sounding note ends at the beginning of the rest. The sounding note ends (stops) right before beat 1 of the second measure.

1/2 note and 1/2 note rests

Next is an example of 2 measures of a 1/2 note and a 1/2 rest.

Once again, pay attention to where the note starts and stops. I cannot emphasize this enough. It will make plenty of sense as we move forward.

1/4 notes and 1/4 rests

Next, 2 measures of 1/4 notes and 1/4 rests.

I’m sure you know what to pay attention to! Start and stop 😉.

Rests add interesting rhythms to your music that’s why we study them. There will be many more examples of rests played in today's music as we move forward.

TIES

A Tie is a common symbol seen in music.

A Tie is an arc shaped line used to connect two notes.

A tie connects or ties two notes of the same pitch.

Tie? What do we mean by tie?

Well, think about it this way. If we had two balloons and we tied them together, the balloons would be connected together. If one ballon started to fly away it would drag the other balloon into the air with it (tied together).

The same concept applies with music only when two notes are tied together the duration of the note equals the sum of the two notes tied.

Ok, that’s a lot so let’s break it down.

We have already studied a whole note which gets 4 beats in a 4/4 measure.

And a 1/2 note gets 2 beats in a measure.

1/2 Note Tie

Now let’s say we have the two half notes tied.

Both 1/2 notes get 2 beats but because of the tie, we add the note values together, 2 beats + 2 beats equals 4 beats. Because of the tie we only play the first 1/2 note but the duration is changed to equal 4 beats.

1/4 Note Tie

Let’s look at the same example with 1/4 notes. Four 1/4 notes sound like this.

Now with all four 1/4 notes tied together.

Quite interesting isn't it!

Just for Clarity, yes all 3 rhythm examples below, because of the use of ties, sound exactly the same.

If we were writing a piece for a musician to play we would most likely use the first example above, the whole note. The other examples were only done to explain how ties work.

One of the most common uses of a tie is to hold notes across a bar line. The example below shows 2 whole notes tied together. Each whole note gets 4 beats so together we have 8 beats. The note is held for 8 beats.

Tie Rules to remember:

The more you write the better your writing will become. Yes, let’s keep on learning too, there is nothing but value in that process.

Take the tools you learn with Music Clarity and employ them into your music today, don’t wait. Learn how to use them, don’t just learn them, USE THEM, USE THEM, USE THEM!!!

Allow your dreams to become realities. Allow your songs to take on new life.

🏗️ Rhythm / Dictation Exercises 2 - in process

🏗️ Dotted Half Notes and Ties - in process

🏗️ Rhythm / Dictation with melody

🏗️ The Breakdown Introduction

🏗️ Breakdown 1

🏗️ Breakdown 2a

🏗️ Breakdown 2b