whats the point of rests in notation?
im not sure what there actually for....im pretty sure the music would sound the same without them >.<

Timing.

If there is no rest between two notes, they are consecutive. If there is a rest, you play a note, wait a bit (depending on which type of rest it is) and then play the second note.

For example, in the first 6 notes of the Super Mario theme, there's a rest after the first two notes (and after the third and fifth notes), making it:

doo-doo - DOO - doo-doo - DOO

instead of
doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo

which wouldn't sound right.


I hope this made some sense.

This post was last modified: 08-31-2007 12:29 AM by M@gicM@rker.

but cant u just put them further in the time line....?

The symbol itself I can't find meaning for either, but in the music I play now I haven't seen the rest symbol you may be talking about in a long time. I may be talking about the wrong thing though, so what does the symbol you're talking about look like?

O_O

You don't get rests?

Rests are just silence...
Thats why they are called rests!

rests are put in to designate what is happening on that beat or off-beat. if they are not there, and it's just a blank space, then the timing will be thrown off.

example. you're playing something in 4-4.
my key: w = whole note, h = half note, q = quarter note, s = sixteenth note, r = rest, | = next measure

4-4||w|h-h|q-qr-q-q|s-sr-qr-q-q||

now...if you take out the rests, the measures do not equally add up to 4 beats. they're there as both a marker of time to keep things in rhythm and to allow for a consistency. leaving a space instead would confuse the musician; was it a rest, or was a note missing from the music?

changing it up from 4-4 to 3-4 and 6-8 usually indicates a change, giving a new tempo or different style or such, or the place where the composer added something extra in.

hope that answers your question? not sure if that's exactly what you were asking...

Precisely, LZ! I was trying to make my explanation easy to understand, but that's better. ^_^

For your convenience, I have circled all the rests in a page of "Super Mario Brothers":



All the available rests are in the heavily circled area (at the top), with 32nd rests at the far right, then 16th, then 8th, then Quarter, half, and whole rests to the right of it.
Below that, I circled all the rests on that page, in action.

Note: if you're wondering what that program is, it is called "Finale Notepad," and can write music for all kinds of instruments, then play it back for you.

This post was last modified: 08-30-2007 11:27 AM by M@gicM@rker.

it depends on what music this is from...

if that is what i think it is, then the part is split into two; meaning two people would play it at the same time, or you'd play one with the left hand, one with the right (depending on the instrument).

i'd see that a lot in the flute section. most of the time first and second flutes had different music. however, within each section of the flutes, there would be variants. basically what would happen...is all of the first flutes would play the same notes. every once in a while, the first half of the firsts would go up higher, and the second half would play lower. when the parts split, they could have different melodies. so while the first half would play a long string of sixteenth notes, the second half might have an eighth note, rest, two sixteenths, etc.

not sure about piano sheet music (M@gic, help?) but i believe they show notes for both hands? so there'd be two sets of notes...

look at the original music, because it's hard to tell from the handmade version you just gave.
1. what instrument is it for? that will have a large part in what it signifies
2. do you have a scan/clearer picture?

This post was last modified: 08-30-2007 03:21 PM by ...i.

I get what he's saying... You guys answered questions he didn't even ask and now it sounds like musical jargon. <_<

Honestly Brando, I don't see a point in rest symbols, I usually ignore them.
Here's an example:



Red Square = Full rest as in resting for the entire measure. Why not just leave it blank? Good point, it'd get the same meaning across anyway.

Blue Square = Half note which says you have to wait half the duration of a whole note... I usually only pay attention to these since they are sort of like rests, but without the symbol.

Green Square = A rest symbol. Although it's KINDA useless if you've heard the song you're practicing, it's useful for playing brand new music, you've never heard before. It tells you exactly how long to wait until you play the next note. In the case of the above picture, I'm supposed to wait 1/16th of a note, but since I've heard the song a million times, it's pretty useless.

So basically, if you've heard the music before then it's pointless, but if you aren't familiar with it, then it's extremely useful for playing it how it sounds.

This post was last modified: 08-30-2007 04:03 PM by Ricky.

THANK YOU! i do the same thing.

duh?

Oh I see why you don't get it!

You're a drummer and usually have a consistant hi-hat or something to base the timing on.

Rests are more important in tonal instruments because you don't have the constant rhythm

wait... I UNDER STAND!!

i dont need to give a damn about rests most of the time :3