Rest (music)

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A rest is a sign used in music to represent the relative duration of silence.

A rest is an interval of silence in a piece of music, marked by a sign indicating the length of the pause. Each rest symbol corresponds with a particular note value:

long rest (or four-measure rest)
double whole rest / breve rest
whole rest / semibreve rest
half rest / minim rest
quarter rest / crotchet rest
eighth rest / quaver rest
sixteenth rest / semiquaver rest
thirty-second rest / demisemiquaver rest
sixty-fourth rest / hemidemisemiquaver rest

The combination of rests used to mark a pause follows the same rules as for notes. For more details see note value.

Bar rests

When a single measure contains no notes, a semibreve (whole) rest is used, regardless of the actual time signature. The only exception is for a 4/2 time signature (four minims per bar), when a breve rest is typically used for a bar's rest.

In manuscript autographs and facsimiles, bars without notes are sometimes left completely empty, without even a semibreve rest. The composer can also completely leave out the staff lines (the practice of, for example, Krzysztof Penderecki).

Multiple measure rests

Multimeasure rest lasting 21 whole rest lengths

Multimeasure rest using longa and breve rests

In instrumental parts, rests of more than one measure may be indicated with a multiple measure rest, showing the number of measures of rest, as shown. Multiple measure rests of variable duration are usually drawn in one of two ways: either as long, thick horizontal lines placed on the middle line of the staff, with serifs at either end, or as thick diagonal lines placed between the second and fourth lines of the staff. They denote a silence several times the duration of a whole rest.

The number of whole rest lengths for which the multiple measure rest lasts is indicated by a number printed above the musical staff. Where the silence is for less than eight whole rest lengths, some publishers use a combination of four measure rests, double whole rests and whole rests to indicate the pause.

The four measure rest or longa rest is a rest found in Western musical notation denoting a silence four times the duration of a whole rest. They are only used in long silent passages which are not divided into bars.

Four measure rests are drawn as filled-in rectangles occupying the whole space between the second and fourth lines from the top of the musical staff.

Dotted rests

A rest can have a dot after it, increasing its duration by half, but this is less common than with notes, except perhaps in compound meters. Double-dotted rests, though theoretically possible, are extremely rare.

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