Quarter Note

The quarter note is usually the first note value beginners learn, and the one most other rhythms are measured against. It has a solid (filled) notehead and a stem, but no flag. It lasts a quarter as long as a whole note, half as long as a half note, and as long as two eighth notes. In British English it is called a crotchet.

The quarter note as the beat

In 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 the bottom number 4 means the quarter note gets one beat. Count each quarter note as one number: "1, 2, 3, 4". That is why metronome markings so often read "quarter note = 80" or similar: the quarter note is the beat that the tempo measures.

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In other meters a quarter note lasts a different share of the beat. In cut time it is half a beat. In 6/8 it equals two of the three eighth notes in a beat, which is why the quarter-eighth pattern is so common there.

Stems and noteheads

A quarter note below the middle line of the staff has its stem pointing up, on the right side of the notehead. A note above the middle line has its stem pointing down, on the left side, and a note on the middle line usually does too. The direction does not change the length, only the look.

Quarter rest and dotted quarter

The matching silence is the quarter rest, the zigzag symbol. A dotted quarter note lasts one and a half beats and often pairs with an eighth note to make a long-short rhythm.

Start with The Quarter Note, then practice writing counts under quarter notes and rests with Write the Counts.