Eighth Notes

Rhythm Symbols and Terms

𝅘𝅥𝅮 ♫ Eighth Note Two eighths are equal in length to one quarter note. An eighth note is half the length of a quarter or 1/2 beat in common time.

𝄾 Eighth Rest An eighth note length of silence. 1/2 beat of silence in common time.

For a review of Whole, Half, and Quarter Notes see Simple Rhythms.

Beaming Eighth Notes

Eighth notes can be written with a flag 𝅘𝅥𝅮 or they can be beamed together ♫.

Eighth notes are beamed together in groups of two in order to make the beats easier to see. In common time they are usually beamed into groups of 4 eighth notes as long as the beam does not cross over between beats 2 and 3.

In vocal music eighth notes are not always beamed together. In some vocal music each syllable is kept separate and not beamed to any other syllables.

Simple Meter

Simple Meter is the most common type of meter. Each beat is divided to two equal parts called the subdivision of the beat. In common time the quarter note will last one beat and it will be divided into two eighth notes.

Counting Eighth Notes

Some people find it easier to learn rhythms if they "count" them.
In the last lesson we learned to count each beat with a number. Eighth notes in simple meter divide the beat in half. So we can count eighth notes by adding an "&" between the beats. For Example:

Speaking Rhythms

A simple way to speak eighth notes is to say "ti-ti" for each grouping of two eighth notes.

Example Rhythms

Below are 10 examples of rhythms using all of the notes we have learned so far. Each example begins with a four click count off before the rhythm is played.

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