Music is a language, like all languages it incorporates a set of characters and symbols to communicate meaning.
We use different note symbols to communicate the duration of notes in music. In this article, we will learn about whole notes, half notes and quarter notes. Think about them like basic units of time, almost like seconds and minutes.
In order to read music comfortably at the piano, you will need to be able to understand rhythm basics and how these three different rhythms work together. Check it out!
What are notes?
We use notes in music for two main purposes:
- Notes give us information about the pitches we will be playing. Notes that are higher up on the staff sound higher in pitch and notes that are lower on the staff are lower in pitch. Any type of notes can be in any position on the staff.
- Notes give us information about the duration of the pitches we will play in a given piece of music. Musicians use a combination of open and closed circles with and without lines attached to them to communicate these different durations.
Parts of a written note
- Head: The round part of the note, which can be filled (for quarter notes and shorter) or open (for half notes and whole notes). The head shows the pitch when placed on the staff.
- Stem: The vertical line extending from the note head. The stem direction (up or down) doesn’t change the pitch but helps with readability in notation.
- Flag: The curved line that appears on the stem of notes shorter than a quarter note. Each flag halves the note’s duration (e.g., one flag for eighth notes, two for sixteenth notes).
Now we understand what the parts of the note are, let’s look at a few examples.
What is a quarter note?
The quarter note lasts for one beat. Quarter notes, or crotchets, are probably the most common note type in music.
Quarter note symbol
As we see above, a quarter note crotchet consists of a closed note head (the black circle) with a stem.
We see that the note extends up if the note is below the third line of the staff. The stem will extend downwards from the left side if the note is on or above the third line of the staff. This distinction between the direction of the stem makes our music notation cleaner and easier to read.
How many beats is a half note?
The half note lasts for two beats. The easiest way to understand how many beats a half note gets is to play a note on the piano and count 1 – 2, then play another note and count 3 – 4 with a steady even pulse as before. Check out the diagram below to see a visual representation of counting half notes:
The diagram shows a bar of 4/4 time. To further understand bars take a look at Skcoove’s’ helpful guide on reading piano music.
What is a half note?
The half note, or minim, lasts for 2 beats, or twice as long as a quarter note.
Half note symbol
The half note consists of an open note head (the open circle) with a stem extending up or down depending on where the notes are placed on the staff, as before.
How many beats is a half note?
The half note lasts for two beats. The easiest way to understand how many beats a half note gets is to play a note on the piano and count 1 – 2, then play another note and count 3 – 4 with a steady even pulse as before. Check out the diagram below to see a visual representation of counting half notes:
Improve your note values technique, learn your favorite songs and more!
What is a whole note?
The whole note, or semibreve, lasts for four beats. You need to pay close attention when you are playing the whole note so that you do not lose the pulse of the music.
Whole note symbol
What does a whole note look like?
A whole note consists of an open note head with no stem. It is simple and easy to read. Like the quarter note and half note, the whole note can be found on any pitch.
How many beats is a whole note?
To play a whole note you need to play a key on the piano and count as steady 1 – 2 – 3 – 4. Lift up your finger after four beats and you have the note value of a whole note. The whole note lasts the same time as four quarter notes.
Check out the diagram below for a visual representation of this note:
Recap quarter note, half note and whole note
Let’s recap on the duration and look of the note values we have studied here:
Whole note/Semibreve
- Duration: 4 beats
- Looks like: open note head without a stem
Half note/Minim
- Duration: 2 beats
- Looks like: open note head with a stem extending up or down
Quarter note/crotchet
- Duration: 1 beat
- Looks like: closed note head with a stem extending up or down
Time for some counting practice
Feeling confident in playing all of these differentnotes on a piano? Great! Now learn to put them into practice with Skoove.
This first example involves playing 4 quarter notes one after the other.
Play each quarter note correctly and in time, you are going to count from 1 up to 4. Play the key on each beat. Try beginning on G as in the diagram above, but once you can play and count comfortably, move around to different keys as you see fit! Be sure not to cut the fourth beat short and play it for its full duration.
How was that? Let’s try another!
This next example combines quarter notes and half notes.
Just like the example before, play the first two quarter notes counting 1 on the first and 2 on the second. Then, count the half note over beats 3 and 4. Keep looping this with a steady pulse of 1, 2, 3, 4 and once you feel more comfortable, move on to different notes.
Put these musical notes into practice!
A little Queen
With the Skoove app open, try to play the chorus from “We Will Rock You” by Queen.
Have a look at the music. You see quarter notes and half notes as well as tworest symbols. Practice counting along with the music before you try to play it on the piano so that you ensure youunderstand the rhythm.
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How was that? Let’s play one more song!
American Pie
Now open up the app to play “American Pie.” What do you see when you look at the music? In this song you will see examples of the quarter note, half note and whole note. Again, it will be helpful to count through the rhythm before trying to practice the piece on piano.
Learn how to play ‘American Pie’ on piano. Start a 7 day trial today – no card details required!
But how do we make longer notes?
You may be wondering what we do to the quarter note, half note and whole note if we want longer note values than these? That is a great question!
In music theory, we use a symbol called a ‘tie’ to connect two notes into longer note values. Since we break music up into discrete blocks called bars/measures, we need a way to connect notes across the bar lines. We usetied notes for this purpose.
What do ties look like?
Ties look a curved line that connects two notes like this:
Remember that the whole note lasts for four beats. If we have two whole notes tied together, this means that the note values are equal to eight beats. Practice playing a note and counting a steady 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 and then again 1 – 2 – 3 – 4.
Here is another example:
In this example, we see the half note tied together. Practice counting this example by counting 1 – 2 for the first quarter notes, then 3 – 4 for the half note. Keep the key pressed while you count 1 – 2 and then finish with the quarter notes on 3 – 4.What about three beats?
You may have noticed that we have a means of counting 1 beat with the quarter note, 2 beats with the half note and 4 beats with the whole note. What about counting 3 beats? How do we count 3 beats in music?
The dotted half note/minim
The rhythmic note that has three beats is called a half note. The dotted half note looks like a normal half note, except that it has a small dot on the right side next to the note head. Dotted notes add ½ of the original note value to the note.
If a half note lasts for 2 beats, we add 1 beat to the dotted half note because ½ of 2 is equal to 1. This means that the dotted half note lasts for 3 beats. It looks like this:
To practice the dotted half note, play a pitch on the piano and count 1 – 2 – 3. Lift your finger up after 3 and you have successfully played a dotted half note!
Find more rhythms to play
Now that you’ve built a solid understanding of basic rhythms, you’re ready to expand your skills and confidence. Try exploring more songs from the Piano Beginner 1 Course to practice and reinforce what you’ve learned. Working with simple songs will strengthen your rhythmic foundation, making it easier to approach more complex pieces later on. Remember, rhythm is key to all music and each new piece you practice will bring you closer to mastering it! With Skoove you’ll have all the support you need as you progress on your journey to becoming a confident pianist.
Author of this blog post
Vicki Young
Vicki Young is a pianist and singer with a degree in Music from the University of Sheffield. She lives in London, UK with her husband and son. Vicki is a communications and marketing freelancer who has worked with a range of organizations across the music and charity sectors.
Published by Lydia Ogn from the Skoove team
