Introducing Rests

Sometimes one hand or the other will take a break, rather than keep playing continuously. This is shown in the music with rests, which let you know how many beats of silence should be “played” (or not played). Here are some examples:

These rests last for one, two, and four beats, respectively. Finally, in this chapter, we'll combine some notes and rests together, again just playing middle C with the right thumb for now:

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Listen to track 2 and try to play the example while counting along. Make sure you play the notes, but don't play during the rests. Again, there is one “count-off measure” before the music starts. Also notice how the tempo remains the same, even on the rests. (Rests are just as important as notes, so don't rush them, and, especially, don't ignore them!)

The sum of all the rhythmic values (now including notes and rests) in each measure has to add up to the time signature. For example, in the seventh measure above, we have one half rest (2 beats), one quarter note (1 beat) and one quarter rest (1 beat): 2 + 1 + 1 = 4 beats total, so again, we're OK.