Silence is part of music, not a gap in it. You already know the quarter rest, half rest and whole rest, each a whole number of beats long. The eighth rest is smaller: just half a beat of silence. It is the silent partner of the eighth note, and it is what gives so many tunes their bounce. Getting it right is mostly a matter of counting in half beats and trusting the count.
What an eighth rest looks like
An eighth rest looks a little like a small number 7 with a dot on its upper stroke, sitting in the middle of the staff. It is much slimmer than a quarter rest, which is a tall zigzag. In the rhythm line below, compare the two shapes as you count.
Here is what happens in that bar. Beat 1 is a quarter note. Beat 2 begins with silence: the eighth rest. Halfway through beat 2, on the "and", the eighth note sounds. Beats 3 and 4 are ordinary quarter notes. Add it up and you get 1 + ½ + ½ + 1 + 1 = 4 beats.
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Counting in half beats
When you first met eighth notes, you learned to count "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and", with the numbers on the beats and the "and" halfway between. Eighth rests use exactly the same counting. The only difference is that on some of those numbers or "ands" you play nothing.
There are two common places an eighth rest appears:
- On the beat, followed by a note on the "and". This gives an off-beat, slightly surprising entry, as in the example above.
- On the "and", after a short note on the beat. This makes the note before it crisp and short, almost like a staccato with a precise length.
The Academy piece Rests and Rhythm uses the second kind straight away. The E in each of the first two bars is cut off by a rest on the "and" of beat 2.
Further on, the rests come after every short note, giving a bouncing, light feel.
Making the silence clean
A rest means the sound must actually stop. On the piano, a note stops when the key comes back up. So for an eighth rest, lift the finger exactly on the count where the rest begins. If you leave the key down a fraction too long, the rest disappears and the rhythm turns into ordinary eighth notes or quarter notes.
At the same time, do not let the hand fly away from the keys. Keep it light and close, ready for the next note, which may be only half a beat away.
How to practise eighth rests
Start with rhythm alone, then add notes, exactly as you did with the dotted quarter note. Here is a short line to work with.
- Count aloud. Say "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and" slowly and evenly, several times. This is the grid everything sits on.
- Tap the rhythm. Tap the three-bar line above on a table, keeping the counting going, and stay silent on each rest.
- Move to one key. Play the same rhythm on middle C. Listen hard: is there a clear silence on each rest?
- Echo practice. Have someone tap two bars containing half-beat rests and play them back, or make up your own and play them twice the same way.
- Add pitches. Play the first four bars of Rests and Rhythm, counting aloud.
- Speed up gradually. Rests are easy to fudge at a fast speed. Only go faster when the slow version is exact.
Common mistakes
- Skipping the rest altogether. Players sometimes jump straight to the next note, making the bar half a beat short. The bar must still add up to four beats.
- Coming in late after a rest on the beat. When the bar begins with a rest, the note falls on the "and". Feel beat 1 clearly, then play.
- Mixing up eighth and quarter rests. The quarter rest is a full beat. Look at the shape before you count.
- Rushing. Short rests make music feel busy, and busy music tempts you to speed up. Keep the pulse steady.
Try it in Pianuvo
The Academy lesson has you tap rhythms with eighth rests on one key, copy rhythms by ear, and then play Rests and Rhythm with an accompaniment. Its exercises listen as you play and notice if a rest is skipped, whether you use on-screen keys, a MIDI keyboard or a real piano through the microphone. It is part of Unit 7: F major, flats and changing dynamics. For a recap of note values, see note lengths and rhythm.