hi i have been using this site for last six monthes and its members have always helped me out when ever i had any problem and also expecting to be helped this time.

I am not a begginer any more i can play many songs that i like to play.these days i am concentrating on learnig music language.
i have learned many signs and their meanings but still dont know how to use them on a guitar . I know that "whole note" has foure beats , and"half beat" has two beats but still dont know  how to play it on a guitar i am cofused about the beates. please if any one can answer my problem.

...remember the "time" signature on the music: 4/4 means 4 beats per measure, thus:

1/4-beat = one down beat and 3 rests (no beats)
2/4-beat = two down beats and 2 rests
3/4-beat = three down beats and 1 rest (NOTE: 3/4-time is also called "waltz" time)
4/4-beat = four down beats and no rest

...the NOTES are:

WHOLE note = round oval open (not filled in)
HALF note = round oval open with upward tail
QUARTER note = solid (filled) oval with tail
EIGHTH note = solid (filled) oval with tail and descender (or flag)
SIXTEENTH note = solid (filled) oval with tail and two descender/flags
THIRTY-SECOND note = solid (filled) oval with tail and three descender/flags
SIXTY-FOURTH note = solid (filled) oval with tail and four descender/flags

...each time the note duration is getting ONE-HALF shorter than before, conversely, you're playing them TWICE as fast. Like this (in 4/4 time):

...a whole note "rings" for four beats.
...a half note "rings" for two beats, or played twice during one measure.
...a quarter note "rings" for one beat, or is played four times during one measure.
...an eighth note "rings" for half of one beat, or is played eight times during one measure.
...etc.

sir thanx for ur kind attention towards my problem .but sir actually I am having problem in understanding the beats and rests sir I am totally new to music language . I am reading a book it tells all about the notes but I can‚Äôt understand the meaning of beats and rests kindly tell me how to play a beat on the guitar 


thanx once again and take care.

fahad shaikh wrote:

sir thanx for ur kind attention towards my problem .but sir actually I am having problem in understanding the beats and rests sir I am totally new to music language . I am reading a book it tells all about the notes but I can‚Äôt understand the meaning of beats and rests kindly tell me how to play a beat on the guitar 


thanx once again and take care.

Hmm.. How should I explain this?

Depending on the type of note (examples: Whole note, Half note, Quarter note, Eighth note, etc...) you play (in your case, plucking a string - or strumming a chord) for a certain amount of BEATS. A whole note is four beats. Think of a whole note as a pie. A whole note, which is 4 beats in a standard 4/4 (Common Time) Time Signature, can be described as cutting a pie into 4 equal pieces. Each piece of the pie is one beat. A quarter note is a quarter of the pie (1/4 of a whole note). An eighth note is an eighth of a pie, or whole note (1/8 of a whole note). The pie analogy can get complicated when you have values larger than 4 beats - an 8 beat note (really rare case in novice music) would be double a whole note (8/4, 4/2, 2/1 of a whole note), so you might say this is a double decker pie - which is not a bad thing at all ;D.

Now, depending on how fast the song is supposed to go, the length of a single beat can be faster or slower. Buy a metronome. Each tick of a metronome is a beat. Your music might have a Metronome marking at the top telling you how fast to set the metronome. So 70-90 would be a good speed for beginners. Also, the speed can be defined by words like Vivace, which means "Fast", and other such things. (Refer to 8notes.com for help)

For now, think in seconds. A whole note would get 4 seconds of sound. A half note would get 2 seconds in sound. And etc...

Rests work the same way, except you're silent instead of playing.

Now that you know about 4/4 Time (or Common Time), you might want to know about 4/2 (Cut Time), whereas a quarter note would equal an eighth note - so in simple terms, "cut in half".

I'll quickly explain how a Time Signature works.

The number on top in a time signature (I don't know the technical term, but I'll call it a numerator) tells you how many beats are in each bar.

e.g. A single bar in 4/4 Time might have 2 Quarter Notes, and a half note; Another bar might have just a whole note; Another might have 1 whole rest; Another might have a quarter note, a half note, and a quarter rest; and so on... (Sorry for my misuse of the semicolon, grammar-nazis) SO there MUST ONLY be 4 beats in a single bar.

e.g. #2: A single bar in 3/4 Time (Popular Waltz time signature) might have 3 quarter notes, or a dotted half note, or a dotted half rest.

***TIP*** Dotted notes are the regular value of the note, PLUS, half the value of the regular note.


Pant, Pant, Pant --- Almost done!

The bottom number (again, I don't know the technical term - so I call it a denomenator), relates to the length of a single beat. Having 4 as the bottom number signifies that a quarter note will equal a quarter note.

I'll make a small comparison chart: (The Tilde symbol "~" means equal to or same as)

4/4 ~ Common Time ~ Four Beats per bar, quarter note gets one beat
3/4 ~ 3 Beats per bar, quarter note gets one beat
2/4 ~ 2 beats per bar, quarter note gets one beat
4/2 ~ Cut Time ~ 4 beats per bar, quarter note gets half a beat
3/2 ~ 3 beats per bar, quarter note gets half a beat
4/8 ~ 4 beats per bar, quarter note gets 2 beats

AND SO ON..


I sure hope this little lesson helped (please correct me if there are any mistakes)

Oh, and use my pie analogy freely - I really don't care what you do to it, make it a wedding cake, a piece of your favourite cheese, a piece of baklava for all I care!!! - I think it's good for learning.

  Don't ever give up, man!

I have included an a visual and audio example for you:

Visual:




Audio (corresponds to visual):

http://www.themp3host.com/uploads/10c7ddf019.mid



I used Power Tab for Notation and Midi. It's a good tool for beginners and pros alike, and it's free! Download it!

http://www.power-tab.net/

fahad shaikh,

im learing music language too and its really easier if you get a book that tells u what each music note means and where u play it on the fretboard. Books only cost $20 AUS and really help.

T0mboy_Rampag3