Quarter Notes

Meet the Quarter Note

In the last lesson, you learned to feel and keep a steady beat. Now you’ll learn how a beat can be represented in written music.

A quarter note has a filled notehead and a stem.

♩

For now, think of each quarter note as one beat.

When you see four quarter notes, count:

1 – 2 – 3 – 4

Count Quarter Notes

Each quarter note gets one count:

♩　♩　♩　♩
1　 2　 3　 4

Keep the counts evenly spaced. Don’t rush from one number to the next.

Play Quarter Notes

Place your right-hand thumb on Middle C.

Start with a steady pulse and play Middle C once on every beat:

C – C – C – C

Count aloud as you play:

1 – 2 – 3 – 4

Each note should begin with a beat.

Keep Going

Four beats do not mean the music has to stop.

Try counting continuously:

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 | 1 – 2 – 3 – 4

Keep the pulse steady as you move from one group to the next.

You’ve learned quarter notes.

You can now recognise a quarter note, count quarter notes, and play one note on each steady beat.