How to Count Quarter, Half, and Whole Notes

Why You Should Learn to Count

Learning to play rhythms properly requires counting the rhythms as you play them. Many players are unwilling to count, thinking that they can just 'feel' the rhythm. This may work for some music, but there are many downsides to just feeling the rhythm.

1. Players who don't count often skip rests or shorten longer note values.
2. Counting allows you to internalize the rhythm in a way that just 'feeling' the rhythm doesn't. Certain parts of the beat feel different and counting often helps you develop a better understanding of this than not counting.
3. Counting allows you to play with other musicians. It is easy to come in too early or late if you aren't counting.
4. Counting helps you keep track of long periods of rest for your instrument. Some music you play may have multiple measures where your instrument doesn't play. This can be difficult to keep track of if you aren't counting.
5. There are rhythms that are far too complex to learn just by feel. Counting these rhythms allows you to play them more easily.
6. Rhythm is one of the most important aspects of technique. Playing a rhythm even slightly wrong can result in poor technique. Counting makes it less likely that you will play a rhythm incorrectly.

The Basics of Counting

Counting is done by associating numbers and words with each beat or part of a beat. For now, you will only use numbers since the rhythms are fairly basic. The basic concept is to start on 'one' for the first beat of the measure and count one additional number for each beat in that measure. When you reach the last beat of the measure, start over with 'one' at the beginning of the next measure.

Note that music doesn't always start on the first beat of the measure. This concept will be explained later, but for now, you can always start counting on 'one' since none of the examples will start on a beat other than the first beat.

Counting for several of the most common time signatures is explained in the section below. All of these time signatures are simple time signatures. Keep in mind that a simple time signature has two parts:

1. A top number that indicates how many beats are in the measure.
2. A bottom number that indicates what kind of note gets the beat.

4/4 Time

Number of beats: 4
Note that gets the beat: quarter note
Type of time signature: simple quadruple

How to Count in 4/4

Music in 4/4 time can be counted by counting 'one, two, three, four' with each number corresponding to a quarter note beat. You should count even when a note is held for several beats so that you can keep track of where you are in the measure.

A whole note is equal to four beats (or quarter notes) in 4/4 time. In other words, a full measure of 4/4. If you recall what you learned about note values in the last lesson, you should be able to divide each measure of 4/4 into smaller note values that are a division of the whole note. For example, a half note is half the value of the whole note. This means that there are two half notes in a measure of 4/4.

Here is an example of how counting works in 4/4:

3/4 Time

Number of beats: 3
Note that gets the beat: quarter note
Type of time signature: simple triple

How to Count in 3/4

Count 3/4 time by counting 'one, two, three' with each number corresponding to a beat. Here are some examples of this:

2/4 Time

Number of beats: 2
Note that gets the beat: quarter note
Type of time signature: simple duple

How to Count in 2/4

Count 2/4 time by counting 'one, two'. Below is an example of this:

Strong and Weak Beats

Each time signature has strong beats and weak beats that occur in a certain pattern, with the first beat of the measure generally being the strongest beat. These are more theoretical than practical since they don't occur in all music. Here is an example of how strong and weak beats are arranged in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4.

Strong and Weak Beats in 4/4

The pattern of strong and weak beats in 4/4 is: strongest, weak, strong, weak. Beat one is the strongest beat in 4/4. Beats two and four are the weak beats and beat three is a strong beat, but not as strong as beat one.

Strong and Weak Beats in 3/4

Strong and weak beats are arranged in the following pattern in 3/4: strong, weak, weak. This pattern of strong and weak beats is commonly heard in waltzes.

Strong and Weak Beats in 2/4

The pattern of strong and weak beats in 2/4 is: strong, weak.

These patterns of strong and weak beats don't occur in all music. For example, the mazurka (a Polish dance) is in 3/4 time, but the strong beats will occur on the second or third beat as a result of accents. Rock music commonly emphasizes beats two and four instead of one and three in 4/4.