Rest

What it means

A rest is a sign in musical notation that shows the silence of a voice for a certain duration. Each rest corresponds to a note value: there are rests for semibreves, minims, crotchets, quavers and shorter values. Rests are part of the rhythm and are counted, since silence too is shaped music.

In the notation

The semibreve rest hangs as a small rectangle from the fourth staff line, the minim rest sits on the third line. The crotchet rest has a jagged, looped shape, the quaver rest resembles a 7 with a dot. For a whole bar, whatever the time signature, the semibreve rest is used. Several whole bars of rest are combined with a number above the staff.

Musical use

Rests articulate the music, give phrases air, create tension and can be as effective as sound. The general pause (G. P.) lets the entire ensemble fall silent; a fermata over a rest prolongs the silence. Composers such as Haydn and Beethoven use rests deliberately as surprise or build-up.

A rest should be distinguished from the breath mark, which marks only a short pause for air, and from the fermata, which prolongs a note or rest.

Performance practice

Count rests exactly and treat them like notes. Do not let the tension of silence dissipate: stay concentrated and prepare the entry after the rest inwardly so that it comes in securely and together.