Rhythm reading lessons › Lesson 1 of 19
One clap per beat, and silence for a rest.
The quarter note is the beat itself in 4/4. Clap exactly on each click. A quarter rest is a beat of silence: keep counting it in your head, but don't clap.
Most mistakes at this level come from rushing after a rest. Feel the rest as clearly as the notes.
| Figure | Count | Kodály syllables |
|---|---|---|
| Quarter note | 1 2 3 4 | ta |
| Quarter rest | (silent beat) | sh |
A quarter note has a filled-in note head and a plain stem, without a flag. In 4/4, the most common time signature, the lower 4 says that the quarter note gets the beat and the upper 4 says that there are four beats in a bar. The quarter rest is a zigzag squiggle. It takes up exactly as much time as the note.
Count "1 2 3 4" out loud, one number per click, and start again at 1 in every bar. Clap on each number that has a note. On a rest, say the number or whisper "sh" and keep your hands apart. Many teachers ask for a small silent gesture on a rest, such as opening your hands, so that the beat is still felt in the body.
Silence feels longer than it is, so the clap after a rest tends to arrive early. If the feedback shows early claps after rests, lower the tempo and count the rests out loud. The other typical slip is clapping slightly ahead of every click. Listen for the click and try to make your clap disappear into it.