ClassX Video Lessons Youtube Channel Smile and Learn English Musical Notation – The quarter, the eighth and the sixteenth note – Music for Kids
Have you ever heard a steady ticking sound in music? That’s the metronome! It’s a special tool that helps musicians keep a steady beat while they play. Today, we’re going to learn about some musical notes: the quarter note, the eighth note, and the sixteenth note. We’ll also talk about their rests, which are just as important as the notes themselves.
The quarter note is a musical note that lasts for one beat. Imagine hearing a tick on the metronome; that’s when you play the quarter note. If you’re playing an instrument like an electric guitar, you would play a sound each time you hear the tick.
But what about when there’s no sound? That’s called a quarter note rest. It’s a silent beat, but it lasts the same amount of time as the quarter note. Rests are important because they give music its rhythm and space.
Next, we have the eighth note. It looks a bit like the quarter note but has a little bracket. The eighth note is played for half the time of a quarter note. This means that two eighth notes fit into the same space as one quarter note.
When you see two eighth notes together, they can be connected by a line. And just like the quarter note, the eighth note has a rest. The eighth note rest is a silent beat that lasts half as long as a quarter note.
Finally, let’s talk about the sixteenth note. It’s even shorter than the eighth note. Four sixteenth notes fit into the space of one quarter note. The sixteenth note looks like the eighth note but has an extra bracket.
The sixteenth note rest is similar to the eighth note rest but with an extra bracket. It lasts for a fourth of a beat, making it the shortest note we’ve learned about today.
So, let’s recap: the quarter note and its rest last for one beat. The eighth note and its rest last for half a beat. The sixteenth note and its rest last for a fourth of a beat. Understanding these notes and rests helps us play music with the right rhythm.
Did you enjoy learning about music notes? There are many more exciting things to discover in music. Keep exploring and have fun playing!
Clap the Rhythm: Gather your friends or family and form a small circle. Choose one person to be the leader. The leader will clap a rhythm using quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes. For example, they might clap once for a quarter note, twice quickly for two eighth notes, and four times quickly for four sixteenth notes. Everyone else should try to repeat the rhythm. Take turns being the leader and see how creative you can get with your rhythms!
Note Hunt: Go on a “note hunt” around your home or classroom. Look for objects that can represent the different notes and rests. For example, a spoon could be a quarter note, a pencil could be an eighth note, and a toothpick could be a sixteenth note. Arrange these objects to create a simple rhythm pattern. Share your pattern with a friend or family member and see if they can guess the notes you used!
Make Your Own Metronome: Create a simple metronome using a clock or a timer. Set it to tick at a steady pace. As it ticks, practice tapping along with quarter notes, then try tapping twice as fast for eighth notes, and four times as fast for sixteenth notes. Notice how the speed changes with each type of note. Can you keep up with the beat?
Here’s a sanitized version of the YouTube transcript:
—
[Music]
Do you hear that?
What?
The metronome.
The metronome? What’s that?
The metronome is a musical device used to keep time in music. The ticking sound you hear regularly helps musicians maintain a consistent rhythm while playing.
Knowing this, can we start a rock band now?
Well, we have to take it slow first. We need to learn the musical notes. Today, I want to tell you about the quarter note, eighth note, and sixteenth note. Each of these notes also has a rest, and we will talk about that too.
Look, it’s a quarter note, and its sound lasts one beat. We hear the quarter note between two ticks on the metronome.
Okay, and how do we do it? The first thing we need is an instrument to play the quarter note. Should we try it with an electric guitar?
Let’s go for it! Pay close attention to the metronome.
[Music]
So cool!
Why do we see that when there’s no sound?
It’s the quarter note rest in music. The rest notes are just as important as the music played, and they last the same amount of time.
[Music]
What do you think of the quarter note and its rest? Now I will explain the eighth note.
[Music]
Look, this is the eighth note. It’s like the quarter note but has a bracket.
How else are they different? An eighth note is played half as long as the quarter note. That means one quarter note is equal to two eighth notes.
That’s it! When two eighth notes appear together, they can also be represented like this.
[Music]
Let’s listen to it with my guitar.
So that note we see there when we don’t hear anything is the eighth note rest, right?
That’s right, my friend.
[Music]
And this one here is the sixteenth note, which is equal to half of an eighth note. If we add up four sixteenth notes, it will be equal to a quarter note. The shape of the sixteenth note is like the eighth note but has another bracket.
It’s really short, right?
Yeah, it’s really short. Look here. Now I get it! I see that the sixteenth note rest is like the eighth note rest but with another bracket.
That’s it! Did you get everything?
Yeah! The quarter note and its rest last one beat. The eighth note and its rest last half a beat. The sixteenth note and its rest last a fourth of a beat. Well done!
Did you like this video about music notes? We have many more videos. Click on the seal to subscribe to the Smile and Learn channel, and if you want to keep watching more videos, click on the squares.
[Music]
—
This version maintains the content while removing any informal or unclear language.
