Printable worksheet
Note Values Worksheet (Printable, with Answers)
Free printable note values worksheet: identify whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth and dotted notes, or count beats. US and UK names in the key.
Note Values Worksheet (Printable, with Answers)
Sheet #
Name Date Score /
Answer key
Note Values Worksheet (Printable, with Answers) · Sheet #
About the Note Values Worksheet
The Note Values Worksheet is a free printable tool for practising note lengths. It shows rows of notes and asks you to name each one, or to count how many beats each lasts in 4/4, covering whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth and dotted notes. It runs in your web browser with no sign-up. Teachers and students can use it as a set of beginner rhythm worksheets, or as music theory rhythm worksheets for a lesson or homework. Each sheet has a number, so you can reopen or share the same one. The answer key includes both US and UK note names, so the sheet suits either curriculum.
How to use the Note Values Worksheet
- Choose the task. Pick Name each note value to identify the notes, or Count beats in 4/4 to work out how many beats each one lasts. Naming is the default.
- Choose a difficulty from the Difficulty menu. Easy uses whole to eighth notes. Medium adds sixteenth notes. Hard adds dotted notes.
- Choose how many questions you want from the Questions menu: 10 or 20.
- Choose a staff: Treble clef, Bass clef or Single-line rhythm staff.
- Choose notes per question: one note, or a row of 3 or 4 notes.
- Press New worksheet to generate a new sheet. Press Show answers to check the key on screen.
- Press Print. Page 1 has the questions and page 2 has the answer key. A4 and US Letter both work. The sheet includes Name, Date and Score lines.
The page URL keeps your settings and the sheet number (?seed=...). Open or share that link to get the same sheet again.
Answer each row yourself before you press Show answers. Naming the notes first shows you which lengths you still mix up. Then check the key and mark any you missed.
Use this quick check on every note:
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Is the notehead filled or open? Open heads are whole or half notes.
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Count the flags or beams: one means an eighth, two mean a sixteenth.
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Look for a dot to the right of the notehead.
What are the note values in order?#
The note values, from longest to shortest, are whole note (semibreve), half note (minim), quarter note (crotchet), eighth note (quaver) and sixteenth note (semiquaver). Each one is half the length of the one before it. Think of it as halving: a whole note is two halves, a half is two quarters, a quarter is two eighths, and an eighth is two sixteenths.
How many beats is each note worth in 4/4?#
In 4/4 time, the quarter note gets one beat. From that, the other values follow the halving pattern. A whole note lasts 4 beats, a half note 2 beats, a quarter note 1 beat, an eighth note half a beat and a sixteenth note a quarter of a beat. The beats task checks that you can turn this pattern into numbers. You need that skill before you can count bars or work with other time signatures.
What does a dot do to a note?#
A dot after a note adds half of that note’s value. A dotted half note lasts 3 beats (2 plus 1), and a dotted quarter lasts 1.5 beats (1 plus 0.5). Dotted notes appear in the hard difficulty.
How do you tell which note value you are looking at?#
Start by checking the notehead. An open head (hollow) means a whole or half note. A filled head means a quarter note or shorter. Next, count the flags or beams on the stem. One flag means an eighth note and two mean a sixteenth. Finally, look for a dot to the right of the notehead, which tells you the note is dotted.
Why does the answer key show US and UK names?#
The names for note lengths differ between American and British usage. For example, the quarter note is called a crotchet in the UK. The answer key lists both, such as “quarter note (crotchet)”, so you can use the sheet in either system.
How do rests relate to note values?#
Each rest lasts exactly as long as the note with the same name. A whole rest is silence for as long as a whole note, a half rest for as long as a half note, and so on down to the sixteenth rest.
Rests follow the same halving pattern as notes. A whole rest equals two half rests, a half rest equals two quarter rests, and so on. A dot after a rest adds half of its value, just as a dot after a note does.
Because a rest is silence, you count its beats in the same way as a note. In 4/4, where a quarter note gets one beat, a quarter rest is one beat of silence, a half rest is two beats, and a whole rest fills a full bar of four beats.