Rests are used to indicate a pause in a piece of music. A whole rest is silence equivalent to the value of a whole note (4), a half rest is silence equivalent to the value of a half note (2), etc.. Whole rests are placed on the 4th line of the staff; half rests on the third line and quarter rests are placed over the the middle 3 lines. The table below shows you the common types of rests and its value.
Types of Rests
| Types of Rests |
| Rest |
Value |
| whole rest |
4 |
| half rest |
2 |
| quarter rest |
1 |
| eighth rest |
1/2 |
| sixteenth rest |
1/4 |
| Special Rest Symbols |
| Rest |
Value |
| General Pause (G.P.) |
Indicates pause or silence for all instruments or voices. |
| Fermata |
Indicates that a note should be sustained longer than its value. Often, it is the performer who determines how long he/she should hold the note. The fermata is often placed at the end of a music piece. |
