Lesson 5. Long and short notes: learning to count beats

Music is not only about which notes to play, but also how long to hold them. Today we will learn to count beats and play long and short notes.

Imagine you are walking calmly: one, two, three, four. Every step is one beat. Music walks in beats too.

A quarter note is the most ordinary note. It lasts one step, one beat. Play B and count: “one”.

A half note lasts two steps: “one-two”. And a whole note lasts a whole four steps: “one-two-three-four”. Don't forget to blow evenly to the end!

Eighth notes are twice as short as a quarter: two fit into one step. Say into the recorder quickly: “tu-tu”.

A rest is when the music is silent, but we keep counting. A rest is a good time to take a breath.

In the game, the length of the falling bar is the length of the note. A long bar — hold the note longer, a short one — play it quickly.

Let's try! Play notes of different lengths. The bar under the note shows how much longer to hold.

🎤 Exercise: Long and short

Hold each note until the bar fills up: wide buttons are long notes, narrow ones are short. The tempo is calm — one beat per second.

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Press “Start” and allow access to the microphone

🎛️ Notes not being heard well? Adjust it for your recorder

What is a beat

A beat is the even “step” of music, its pulse. If you clap along to a song or march to a march, every clap or step is one beat. The length of every note is measured in beats.

The main note lengths

Note	How many beats	How to count
Whole	4	“one-two-three-four”
Half	2	“one-two”
Quarter	1	“one”
Eighth	½	two to one “one”: “tu-tu”
Sixteenth	¼	four to one “one”

Each next length is twice as short as the previous one: a whole = 2 halves = 4 quarters = 8 eighths.

Rests

Every length has its own rest: a whole rest, a half rest, a quarter rest, an eighth rest. During a rest the recorder is silent, but the counting goes on. Rests are the best place for a breath.

How to hold a long note on the recorder

Long notes are a great breathing exercise. Take a calm breath, start the note with the syllable “tu” and breathe out evenly and slowly, without making the stream stronger or weaker toward the end. If you run out of air before the end of a whole note, breathe in deeper with your belly, not your shoulders.

What it looks like in the game

In our game the length of the falling bar equals the length of the note. In “Study” mode the time runs only while the right note is sounding, so you really have to hold a long note to the end.

Questions and answers

How do you keep from losing count?

Count out loud or in your head and tap your foot on every beat. You can turn on a metronome at 60 beats per minute — that is one beat per second.

What if I run out of air on a long note?

Breathe in deeper with your belly and blow softer: a recorder needs little air. Practice holding one note for 4, then 6, then 8 seconds.