Quarter note: symbol, beats and counting

The quarter note is the workhorse of rhythm. In most of the music you hear, from nursery songs to rock to hymns, the steady beat you tap your foot to is carried by quarter notes. That makes it the best note value to learn first and the one to compare everything else against.

What does a quarter note look like?

A quarter note has a filled-in (black) notehead and a stem, with no flag and no beam. The filled head separates it from the half note, which has a hollow head, and the lack of a flag separates it from the eighth note. Think of it as the plainest note that still has a stem.

How many beats does a quarter note get?

When the bottom number of the time signature is 4, the quarter note gets one beat. That covers 4/4, 3/4, 2/4 and 5/4. So in 4/4 there are four quarter notes in a measure, in 3/4 there are three, and so on. This is the most common situation in music, and it is why the quarter note is so often called "the beat."

Other time signatures change this. In 2/2 the half note gets the beat, so a quarter note gets half a beat. In 6/8 the dotted quarter note is usually the beat, and a plain quarter note gets two thirds of a beat, which is two eighth notes. Whatever the time signature says, a quarter note is always twice as long as an eighth note and half as long as a half note.

How to count quarter notes

Count "1 2 3 4" out loud at a steady speed and play one note on each number. Tap your foot on every number as well. If your foot taps and your voice says the numbers in time, your quarter notes will be in time, too. Quarter notes are the notes you most naturally clap or tap, because the beat itself is a quarter-note pulse.

1. Choose a comfortable speed, about one beat per second.
2. Tap your foot once for each number as you count "1 2 3 4".
3. Clap once on every number to play quarter notes.
4. Try counting only in your head while you keep clapping.

Stem direction and noteheads

Notes below the middle line of the staff usually have stems pointing up, attached on the right side of the notehead. Notes above the middle line have stems pointing down, attached on the left. A note on the middle line can go either way. Stem direction is just a neatness rule. It tells you nothing about how long or how loudly to play.

Quarter note, crotchet and other names

In British English the quarter note is a crotchet. The word comes from an old French term for a small hook, which describes the stem and flag shapes in medieval notation. If you play in an orchestra or learn from a British teacher, "crotchet" will be the word you hear most often.

How the quarter note relates to other notes

Four quarter notes equal one whole note, and two equal one half note. Each quarter note can be divided into two eighth notes or four sixteenth notes. Adding a dot makes it a dotted quarter note, which lasts a beat and a half. Its silent partner is the quarter rest, which also gets one beat.

Because the quarter note is the usual beat, it is also the unit that tempo markings measure. A marking of 100 beats per minute normally means 100 quarter notes per minute. Teachers often start new students on quarter notes alone, then add longer and shorter values one at a time, so the beat stays steady while the rhythm grows more interesting.

Common mistakes

• Rushing quarter notes when other notes are nearby. Keep the foot tapping.
• Thinking a quarter note always gets one beat. That is true only when the bottom number of the time signature is 4.
• Confusing it with a half note. Filled head means quarter, hollow head means half.

For a wider view, see the note values overview or learn the 4/4 time signature, where the quarter note rules.

Check yourself

Related pages

• Note values: how long each note lasts
• Half note: symbol, beats and how to count it
• Eighth note: symbol, beams and how to count it
• Dotted quarter note: how to count it
• Quarter rest: symbol and how many beats it gets
• 4/4 time signature
• Time signatures explained