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Rest Values Worksheet (Printable, with Answers)

Free printable rest values worksheet: identify whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth and thirty-second rests, or count beats. US and UK names in the key.

Rest Values Worksheet (Printable, with Answers)

Sheet #

Name Date Score /

    Answer key

    Rest Values Worksheet (Printable, with Answers) · Sheet #

      How to use it

      1. Choose the task: name each rest, or say how many beats of silence it lasts in 4/4.
      2. Choose a difficulty: easy has whole to eighth rests, medium adds sixteenth, hard adds thirty-second rests.
      3. Press New worksheet and print.
      4. Check the answer key, which gives US and UK names.

      What this worksheet practises#

      A rest is a silence with a definite length, and each rest value matches a note value. The sheet shows a row of rests; name them or give their length in beats. The two rests students most often swap, the whole and half rests, appear from the first level.

      How the levels differ#

      • Easy: whole, half, quarter and eighth rests.
      • Medium: adds the sixteenth rest.
      • Hard: adds the thirty-second rest, which has three flags.

      How to recognise them#

      • Whole rest: a filled block hanging below a line.
      • Half rest: a filled block sitting on a line.
      • Quarter rest: a zigzag squiggle.
      • Eighth rest: a slanted stroke with one flag; the sixteenth has two flags and the thirty-second three.

      The position memory: the whole rest is heavy and hangs down, while the half rest sits on the line like a hat. If you can name the rest, convert it to beats by matching it to the note of the same name.

      Pairing this sheet with the note values worksheet is useful, because bar-counting exercises mix notes and rests and need both to be instant.

      Frequently asked questions

      How do you tell a whole rest from a half rest?

      Both are small rectangles. The whole rest hangs below the fourth line, and the half rest sits on top of the middle line.

      What does a whole rest mean in any time signature?

      A whole rest is also used to show a complete bar of silence, whatever the time signature.

      How long is each rest?

      Rests last as long as the note of the same name: in 4/4 a whole rest is 4 beats, half 2, quarter 1, eighth one half and sixteenth one quarter.

      What are the UK names?

      Semibreve rest, minim rest, crotchet rest, quaver rest, semiquaver rest and demisemiquaver rest for the thirty-second rest.

      Reference

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