A quarter note is a note that, in a 4/4 time signature, receives 1 beat. In the 4/4 time signature, there are 4 beats per measure, so one quarter note takes up one quarter of a measure.

A quarter note looks like this:

A half note is a note that, in a 4/4 time signature, receives 2 beats. In the 4/4 time signature, there are 4 beats per measure, so one half note takes up one half of a measure (2 out of the 4 beats.)

A half note looks like this:

A whole note is a note that, in a 4/4 time signature, receives 4 beats. In the 4/4 time signature, there are 4 beats per measure, so one whole note takes up one whole measure!

A whole note looks like this:

An eighth note is a note that, in a 4/4 time signature, receives ½ beat. In the 4/4 time signature, there are 4 beats (8 half- beats) per measure, so one eighth note takes up one eighth of a measure.

A quarter note looks like this:

For music notes, a dot increases a note’s value by ½ of its original value.

Almost any note can be dotted. A dotted note may look like this: Or this…

This diagram will help to explain how these notes compare to each other. == = 1 whole note= 2 half notes= 4 quarter notes= 8 eighth notes

You have just taken the first step into reading music! Knowing the number of beats each note gets can help you to play and read music!