Notes, Rests and Symbols of Rhythmic Notation | Guitar Encyclopedia

How to Count Rhythmic Notation

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Music Reading String by String

Symbols of Rhythmic Tablature

Symbols of Rhythmic Notation

Musical notation uses the following symbols to represent note values and count rhythms:

Whole note (UK: semibreve)	empty note head without stem	4 beats long
Half note (minim)	empty note head with stem	2 beats long
Quarter note (crotchet)	black note head with stem	1 beat long
Eighth note (quaver)	black note head with stem and flag or beam	½ beat long
Sixteenth note (semiquaver)	black note head with stem and two flags or beams	¼ beat long
Whole rest (semibreve)	rectangle hanging from the 4th line	4 beats long
Half rest (minim)	rectangle sitting on the 3rd line	2 beats long
Quarter rest (crotchet)	curved symbol	1 beat long
Eighth (quaver)	single flag in the 3rd space	½ beat long
Sixteenth rest (semiquaver)	double flag in the 2nd and 3rd space	¼ beat long
Triplet	bracket or slur with the number 3	3 notes in the space of 2
Time signature	upper numerator indicates beats per bar, lower denominator defines beat unit
Dotted note/rest	dot after a note/rest extends it by its half duration (+ 50 %)
Tie	connects held note with next note to form a single extended note
Fermata	small half circle with dot above a note prolongs it at the musician's discretion