Notating Rhythm

Rhythm notation encodes duration through note values. A whole note (open oval) lasts the longest; a half note adds a stem; a quarter note fills the oval and adds a stem; eighth notes add one flag; sixteenth notes add two flags; thirty-second notes add three. Each step down halves the duration: two half notes equal one whole, four quarters equal one whole, and so on.

Rests indicate silence and parallel note values exactly: whole rest (rectangle hanging from a line), half rest (rectangle sitting on a line), quarter rest (a zigzag symbol), eighth rest (a flag on a stem), and so on. Rests are just as rhythmically important as notes — silence is part of the music.

A dot after a note or rest adds half its value: a dotted quarter note lasts 1.5 beats in common meter. A second dot adds half of the first dot. Beaming groups eighth and shorter notes together visually, making beat groupings clear at a glance. The beam count matches the flag count: one beam for eighths, two for sixteenths, and so on.