1. Notes and Note Values Middle School Music

2. Measures
As you know, a staff is the lines on which notes are placed. A staff is made up of 5 lines and 4 spaces.
When a staff is divided up into sections, each section is called a measure.
In regular time, each measure contains 4 beats.

4. The Whole Note Today we will be looking at three different notes.
This is the whole note. It is worth 4 beats. That means when it is placed in a measure, it takes up all the beats.

5. The Half Note
This is a half note. Like its name suggests, it is worth half of the value of a whole note.
A half note is worth 2 beats.

6. The Quarter Note
This is a quarter note. Can you guess how many beats a quarter note is worth?
A quarter note is worth 1 beat.

7. Practice
Can you make up 4 beats using these notes? Try to find as many ways as possible to make up 4 beats using these three notes.
Can you make up six beats using these three notes?
Can you make up eight beats using these three notes?

8. The Eighth Note
The next note we will be learning about is the eighth note. An eighth note is worth half of the value of a quarter note – ½ of a beat.
The eighth note always has a flag or a “tail”.

9. Joined Notes
It is common to see 2 eighth notes joined together with a beam to make 1 beat. Remember – no matter how many eighth notes are joined together, each one is still worth ½ of a beat.

10. Dotted Notes
Whenever you see a note that has a dot next to it, it means that you add half of the value of that note to it.
For example, here is a dotted half note. Since a half note is worth 2 beats, how many beats is a dotted half note worth?

11. Dotted Half Note
A half note is worth 2 beats. Half of the value of that is 1 beats.
Therefore…
2+1=3
A dotted half note is worth 3 beats.

12. Dotted Quarter Note
Can you figure out how many beats a dotted quarter note would receive? Please write an equation to determine the number of beats this note gets.

13. Dotted Quarter Note
A quarter note is worth 1 beat. Half of 1 is ½ beat.
Therefore…
1+ ½ = 1½
A dotted quarter note is worth 1½ beats.