RESTS ... in music

One characterstic of a GOOD ART ( of course there is also bad art ) is the presence of CONTRAST.

In a painting, there are highlights and shadows, thin and thick lines, bright and dark colors, etc. In a novel or literature, there are the good guys and the bad guys, the beginning and the end, the presence of conflict, then the resolution of the conflict..etc.

In MUSIC WRITING, there is the time when you sing, ( or an instrument plays ) and there are the times when there is absence of a certain sound ( or singing ) in a music passage.

In short, the absence of music is called REST.

Rests are somehw the opposite of notes...

The sketch that I did on this page illustrates how rests look like on a music page...

1.---- is called whole rest ( in contrast to whole note )
2. is half rest, in contrast to half note
3. is quarter rest, the opposit of quarter note
4. is eighth rest, the opposite of eighth note...
5. ..how a whole note looks like on a piece of music score
6...How a half note looks like on the music score..

The rest of the music symbols appear as they are on the music score. Try to figure these details are when you examine your child's piano scores for rehearsals..Anyhow, you are the one paying for his high fees for his music education...You have the right to know as much as possible the music education your child is getting..:)

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Again, there is also Math in the use of rests..

A whole rest occupies a whole measure.. A Half rest occupies half a measure, a quarter rest occupies 1/4 of a measure..and so on..

A half note written with a half rest inside a 4/4 measure is mathematically correct. The total value is ONE. A quarter rest added to 3 quarter notes inside a 4/4 measure also is correct.. and so on, and so on....


In a music sheet for an orchestra, the arranger have to write ( by hand ) separate scores for the violins, violas, drums ( yes even drums have notes too! ) , the choir, the soloists, etc.. You can just imagine what kind of work the arranger-conductor has to contend with when it is creating or preparing for a performance or a recording session..So, as you can see, lots of SSS are poured into each recording, into each CD or DVD.. The music arrangers, the artists, then the artists that prepare the CD covers, the writers that do the liner notes..Everything adds up...

The producer have to recover the expenses..

Somehow, when the music industry rants and raves because of downloading and free copying, they might have a point too...

Bye, til nex time!!!

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