I get the gist of using the rest symbol to a point, but this diagram in the piano book I'm reading has me stumped. I can't show you the diagram I'm stuck on but I'll try to explain it.
It has the first measure with the Treble Clef and the 4/4 Time signature showing a whole note of G on the 1st beat of the measure. Then in the second measure (this is what is getting me stuck). There is the rest symbol in between the 2nd and 3rd beat. Can anyone explain? If one note is played and held and no other notes are played what is the difference between the rest and the lack of note being played?
Hope I'm not sounding too confusing to get some help!!! Yikes!!!
If you want to explain dotted & tied notes I also need help in these!!! Hearing it played helps me to understand it better.
THANKS AHEAD OF TIME!!
You say that you're in 4/4 time (or common time), right? If that's the case, then that means there's only 1 beat that you are playing before this rest.
Now, that beat could be a quarter note, a pair of eighth notes, 4 sixteenth notes, etc.; any combination of notes that'll equal one beat. Then, you have, from your description, two beats of rest (where you're NOT playing any notes).
Does that explain it for you?
Dotted notes:
The dot, next to a note, gets half the value of the note that it's next to, and you add the two values together. For example:
Quarter Note = 1 beat + . = 1/2 a beat ---- a dotted quarter note = 1 1/2 beats.
Half Note = 2 beats + . = 1 beat ------- a dotted half note = 3 beats
When you play a dotted note, you just have to hold it for the correct length of beats. Got it?
Tied notes = 2 notes of the same pitch. You only have to play the first note, then hold it for the alloted duration of time. For example:
Two tied half notes (one from the end of Measure 1 and the second starting in Measure 2) means hold that pitch for 4 beats. Got it?
Hope that helps.
