Rhythm and rests

Separate an onset from a duration

An onset is the beginning of a sound. Duration tells you how far it continues. Tap a table once, then sing a note beginning at the same moment and lasting two beats. The tap and the sung note share an onset, but their sounding durations differ. If you record only the attacks, you lose information about sustain, release and the spaces a performer leaves.

To transcribe a short phrase, make two passes. First mark the points where sounds begin; next mark where they end. A quiet held sound can be mistaken for a rest, especially when another instrument enters. Listening separately for endings prevents the page from turning every gap between attacks into silence. This distinction also matters when programming a bass line or editing a vocal take.

Learn relationships before seconds

Within the usual note-value system, one half note occupies the duration of two quarter notes, and one quarter note equals two eighth notes. Equivalent rest values occupy the same spans without sounding in that part. These names express relationships, not fixed lengths in seconds. A quarter note lasts one second only when the specified quarter-note tempo is 60 per minute.

Choose a four-beat bar with the quarter note as beat and draw eight equal boxes. A quarter note occupies two boxes; an eighth note occupies one. Write an 'x' at an attack, a dash for its continuation and an 'r' for a rest. This temporary grid is an aid to thinking, not a replacement for learning staff notation. It lets you check duration before dealing with symbols.

References: [1]

Extend a sound accurately

A duration dot adds half the note's own value: a dotted quarter equals a quarter plus an eighth. A tie connects notes of the same pitch into one sustained sound, adding their durations without a new attack at the join. A slur over different pitches means something else: the notes remain separate pitches, usually performed as a connected phrase. Similar curves therefore carry different instructions.

Try sustaining C for a quarter note plus an eighth, then compare it with C attacked twice using those same durations. The total span is identical, but the tied version contains one onset and the rearticulated version contains two. When singing, avoid a second consonant at a tie. On a keyboard, avoid lifting and restriking. On a short-decay percussion instrument, sustain must be understood within that instrument's capabilities.

References: [2]

Rehearse the rests

A rest is not permission to stop following the ensemble. Count through it and prepare the next entrance. Practice a pattern whose first beat is silent: breathe during the count-in, maintain the pulse and enter exactly where intended. If you always practise from your first sounded note, you may learn the notes yet still miss the entrance when others are playing.

Silence can make a phrase spacious, interrupt momentum or expose another instrument. Test these effects by removing one attack from an original pattern while leaving the rest unchanged. Then extend the preceding note across the same space. A missing attack with continuing sound is different from a genuine rest. Describe the difference in your rehearsal notes so collaborators can hear the intention.

What to remember

• Rhythm includes endings and silence as well as attacks.
• Note values are relative until a tempo and unit are specified.
• A tie lengthens one sound; a new attack changes the rhythm.