Hemidemisemiquaver rest (128th rest)
Rest sign of the value 1/128 of a whole note, notated with five strokes.
What it means
The 128th rest is the rest sign of the value of one 128th of a whole note. It is notated with a vertical stroke and five attached crossbars or flags, forming the silent counterpart of the 128th note.
In the notation
As with the note values, each additional crossbar doubles the number of possible rests within a basic value: from the eighth rest with one stroke, via sixteenth, thirty-second, and sixty-fourth rests, one finally reaches the 128th rest with five strokes.
Musical use
This extremely short rest occurs rarely in practice, for instance in very fast, finely notated passages or in works that want to record a precise rhythmic micro-structure. It appears more often together with equally short note values of the same level, to articulate a figure exactly.
The 128th rest should be distinguished from the 64th rest with four strokes, which is twice as long, and from a simple short general pause, which in practice is usually notated with longer, more easily readable rest values.
Performance practice
When playing, treat such a short rest more as a tiny breath within a fast figure than as an independently perceptible silence. Count the higher-level unit and let the rest occur at the right point of the group without interrupting the overall flow.