Learning Note LengthsIn this article you will learn another important aspect of understanding music, and reading music. In this article we are going to teach you how to tell the length of each note. This is critical for a pianist to understand, so let’s learn it now. Most pieces (but not all, by any means) of music have four beats per measure. If you were to divide these beats by four, you would have what is known as “quarter notes”. |
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A quarter note is shown on the musical staff as a black rounded notehead with one long stem. This is probably the most recognizable note to people who don’t understand music. When you think of music reading, this is probably the first note that comes to mind. Here’s a little exercise: To play these kinds of notes on your piano, start by tapping your foot on the floor, at one beat (or tap) per second. Count 1, 2, 3, 4 out loud with each beat. Once you’ve got that going, play a note (any note, it doesn’t really matter) at the same time. If you’ve done this right, you will be playing quarter notes. Next, you need to learn how to play “half notes”. A half note lasts the length of two quarter notes. (It’s all coming together now, yes?) A half note looks a lot like a quarter note, but it isn’t filled in black. Instead it is empty... or you could call it white. If you did the earlier exercise, you can do the exact same exercise here. Only you will play a note every two foot taps, instead of one. The next note length to learn is the “whole note”. These notes last all four beats of the measure. This looks like a half note, in the sense that it isn’t filled in, but it doesn’t have the long stem. It’s also slightly more oval in shape than the other note notations. To practice whole notes is quite simple. You simply to the same exercise as before, but you play a key every four foot taps. Simple. |