Grade 1:3 - Time Value of Notes

Previous: Lesson 2 - Bars & Time Signatures

In this section, we will look again at the notes from section 1 and how the beat works within the time signatures. Then we will see the time values of the notes and how they can be used to make music.

Notes

Now we know the notes, and what the time signatures mean, we can explore how the time value of notes work.

Remember these notes:

They can be used to construct bars of music in many ways. Each note has a different value and they can be combined in different ways to fit within a bar. The number of notes which can fit in a bar is defined by the time signature.

There are always the same number of beats in the bar, no matter how they are divided. There are never more, or less. You can include gaps called rests, which we will see later.

The Beat

In section 2 we introduced the beat. The beat is the way the bar is divided. Music has a steady ‘beat’ or rhythm. Sometimes you’ll hear the beat easily, sometimes it may be harder to notice. The beat isn’t necessarily played, think of it as a background rhythm which the music is following.

The beat in 4/4, as shown in section 2.

This beat is in 4/4 and has the value of four crotchets. It’s called a quarter note in the US style, because in 4/4, there are four in the bar, so each is a quarter.

This is an example of a rhythm which fits within 4/4.

The different note symbols have different time values. So what do they mean?

Time Value of Notes

Each note represents a different length in time. These are always relative to each other. It doesn’t necessarily show how fast or slow the music will be in time, as the tempo can change - more on that later. These notes are fractional and divide the bar, to create rhythm.

Starting with the longest one, the whole note (Semibreve) One of these would last a whole bar.

The Minim (half note) is worth half a bar, in 4/4. So there would be two of these per bar. They would last half the amount of time as a whole note, which means they are played twice as fast.

The Crotchet (quarter note). There are 4 in a bar of 4/4. That’s why it’s called a quarter note.

The Quaver (8th note) is worth half a crotchet.

And the Semi-quaver (16th note) which is half a quaver, which means there are four of these for one crotchet and sixteen in a bar (In 4/4). There are other notes, but we don’t need them at grade one, we will see them in a later course.

You can see how the numbered fractional names make this easy to understand. But don’t ignore those traditional names, you may come across them when you work with other musicians throughout your career. 

You will need to remember the names, the symbols and how much they are worth. This will come quickly over time, as you will use these all the time.

This is how we divide a bar to create a rhythm. Music doesn’t play notes all the time, there are often gaps within a rhythm. This is done using rests, which are in section 15. So don’t worry about that now. 

It can help to see this visually, so this table below covers each note and the relative value of the notes

This is how we divide a bar to create a rhythm. Music doesn’t play notes all the time, there are often gaps within a rhythm. This is done using rests, which are in section 15.

Musical Application

Let’s look back at that music example now we know the values. The 4/4 beat is shown above the stave.

You may notice the line connecting the two quavers at the start of bar two. This is called a beam. If the quavers fit within a beat, you can join them together. This is to make the music easier to read and clearer. You can beam quavers, or semiquavers. Semiquavers have two beams. They can be beamed in twos, or 4’s. They are beamed within the beat.

The beam only affects how the notes look on the stave, this does not change how they sound, or how they are played.

This will be covered more in section 17, it is very common. This is one way the beat is influencing the music structure.

Let’s look at one more example, this time in 3/4.

In 3/4 we need to add up the notes to equal 3 crotchets. They are still called quater notes in 3/4 - not ‘third notes’. The notes are named based on a bar in 4/4, regardless of what time signature the music is in, the names don’t change.

In 3/4 we need to add up the notes to equal 3 crotchets. They are still called quarter notes in 3/4 - not ‘third notes’. The notes are named based on a bar in 4/4, regardless of what time signature the music is in, the names don’t change.

If you see the table on the previous page, you may notice that you cannot use a whole note in 2/4 or 3/4 as it’s value is longer than the bar (It is worth four quarter notes, but the bar doesn’t have four).

Here is an example in 3/4. Look through and see how the music fits.

See how there are two 8th notes, or quavers, in the first beat of bar 3, and that the half note (or minim) is worth 2 beats, as the beats have a quarter note value.

Next: Lesson 4 - Letter Names of Notes

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