Unit 7
Rests and Ties
New: Quarter, half and whole rests; ties across the bar line
Music is made of sound and silence. A rest tells you to be silent for a number of beats, and you count those beats just as carefully as notes. A tie does the opposite: it makes one note last longer, even across a bar line.
What is new
Quarter rest
One beat of silence: the zig-zag sign.
Half rest
Two beats of silence: a small block sitting on top of the middle line, like a hat.
Whole rest
A small block hanging under the fourth line. It means a whole bar of silence, in any time signature.
The tie
A curved line joining two notes of the same pitch. Play the first note and hold it through the second; don't play the second again. It lasts as long as both values added together.
Tie or not?
A curve joining two different notes is not a tie (that is a slur, which comes later). In this unit every curve joins equal notes.
Part A: Rests in the right hand ♩ = 60
Quarter and half rests in the right hand. Silence counts too. Metronome 60.
Part B: Rests in the left hand ♩ = 60
Rests in the left hand.
Part C: Ties across the bar line ♩ = 66
Ties across the bar line, with the hands taking turns. Hold the tied note; don't play it again.
Part D: Rests and ties, hands together ♩ = 72
Hands together in 3/4, with rests and ties in the right hand.
Pieces
Pieces are for playing more than once. Read each one first without stopping, like an exercise; then practise it until it sounds steady and musical.
Stop and Go ♩ = 80
Original
Three notes, then a one-beat stop, like traffic lights. Lift the finger on every rest.
Long Notes ♩ = 72
Original
The ties in bars 2 and 6 make notes six beats long. Count all six beats.
Hide and Seek ♩ = 76
Original
Notes and rests alternate, and the hands take turns. Keep counting through every silent beat.
Clock Tower ♩ = 84
Original
Big, ringing bell notes. Tied notes hold across the bar line; the left hand rings once in every bar.