Rest (music)
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A rest is an interval of silence in a piece of music, marked by a sign indicating the length of the pause. Each rest symbol corresponds with a particular note value:
- long rest (or four-measure rest) (not shown)
- double whole rest / breve rest
- whole rest / semibreve rest
- half rest / minim rest
- quarter rest / crotchet rest
- eighth rest / quaver rest
- sixteenth rest / semiquaver rest
- thirty-second rest / demisemiquaver rest
- sixty-fourth rest / hemidemisemiquaver rest
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Music_rests2.GIF
Image:Music_rests2.GIF
The combination of rests used to mark a pause follows the same rules as for notes. For more details see note value.
Bar rests
When a single measure contains no notes, a semibreve (whole) rest is used, regardless of the actual time signature. The only exception is for a 4/2 time signature (four minims per bar), when a breve rest is typically used for a bar's rest.
In manuscript autographs and facsimili, bars without notes are sometimes left completely empty, without even a semibreve rest. The composer can also completely leave out the staff lines, as Penderecki does (see cutaway score).
Multiple measure rests
Missing image Multimeasure_rest.gif Multimeasure rest | Missing image Multimeasure_rest2.gif Multimeasure rest using long and breve rests |
In instrumental parts, rests of more than one measure may be indicated with a multiple measure rest, showing the number of measures of rest, as shown. Typically the rest symbol itself is a horizontal bar with serifs on the end, but for shorter rests (8 measures or less) breve or long rests may be used.
The four measure rest or long rest is a rest found in Western musical notation denoting a silence four times the duration of a whole rest. It is only used in long silent passages which are not divided into bars. It is a type of measure rest and is sometimes replaced by a multiple measure rest.
Four measure rests are drawn as filled-in rectangles occupying the whole space between the second and fourth lines from the top of the musical staff.
Dotted rests
A rest can have a dot after it, increasing its duration by half, but this is less common than with notes, except in compound meters. Double-dotted rests, though theoretically possible, are extremely rare.