Notation: Rhythm

music theory for musicians and normal people by toby w. rush

while pitch is pretty clearly notated on a

K
vertical axis, note length is indicated using a

K K K
somewhat arcane system involving
noteheads, stems and flags.
double whole note

W w

thirty-second note

twenty-eighth note
h q e x x x x

sixty-fourth note
sixteenth note
quarter note

one-hundred-
eighth note
whole note

half note

in this chart, each successive type of note is half as long note lengths in a piece
as the note to its left. none of these notes has a standard are indicated by the tempo
length; a half note in one piece may be the same length as marking at the beginning
an eighth note in a different piece. of a piece or section.
double whole rest

thirty-second rest
„ ∑ Œ ‰ ≈ ® Â

twenty-eighth rest
sixty-fourth rest
∑
sixteenth rest

one-hundred-
quarter rest

eighth rest
whole rest

half rest

a rest is a period of usually rests are

silence the length of placed on the staff at a
which corresponds to a particular vertical
particular note. position as shown here.

the augmentation dot is a dot placed to the

right of a notehead. though small, this dot multiple dots can also be added,
wields some serious power: it adds half each one adding half of the
of the original note’s length! previously added value.

.
K
ack!

q. = q + e q.. = q + e + x q... q e x x
Get it off!
GEt it off!
= + + +

ties are curved marks which connect to tie more than two notes together,
two notes together to create draw ties between each note; do not

j j j
a single, extended sound. use a single, extended tie.

œ œ =œ
a tuplet is any non-standard division of a
note. these are usually written as a group
of notes delineated with a bracket and
a number showing the division being made.
œ œ = œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
most tuplets are simple divisions, like
the triplets to the left. but anything is
possible! chopin, for example, would
often go to town with these things.

3 for example, these aren’t

62, no. 1 (1846)
b major, op.

œ œ œ
frederic chopin
nocturne in

exactly quarter notes; wha... gah!

they are each a third as chopin, no!
long as a half note. down, boy!

licensed under a creative commons BY-NC-ND license - visit tobyrush.com for more