Music has a steady pulse called the beat, like a clock ticking. The speed of the beat is the tempo, counted in beats per minute: 60 is one a second, 120 two a second.
How long you hold a note is written in its shape. A quarter note (a filled note with a stem) lasts one beat. A half note (hollow, with a stem) lasts two. A whole note (hollow, no stem) lasts four. An eighth note (a quarter note with a flag, or two joined by a beam) lasts half a beat, so two fit in one beat: count them "1 and 2 and". A dot after a note makes it half as long again, so a dotted half note is three beats.
Rests are silences with the same lengths. The time signature at the start says how many beats are in each bar: 4/4 means four quarter-note beats a bar (the most common), 3/4 means three (a waltz). Bar lines divide the music into bars so you can keep count.
In the exercises the song keeps time. Each bar of colour is as long as the note, so hold the key for the whole bar and press the next one as it reaches the keys.
Practice
Quarters and halves
One key, middle C, in time. Count 1 2 3 4 in every bar as the notes come down. You need three stars to pass.
0 score0 streak0% accuracy
The song keeps going. Hit each note as it reaches the keys.
Computer keys: A to ’ from C3, WET… for the black keys, ZX move an octave
More info
Tips
Count out loud while you play. When the counting stays steady, the notes follow it.
Playing the exercises
Use a MIDI keyboard (Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Opera), the computer keys (ASD… for white keys, WET… for black keys, ZX to move an octave), or tap the keys on the screen. A key lights up after a couple of wrong tries.
The answers
How many beats does a half note last? Two. A half note is half of a whole note: two beats.
In 3/4 time, how many beats are in a bar? Three. The top number is the beats in each bar. 3/4 has three, like a waltz.
How many eighth notes fit in one beat (in 4/4)? Two. An eighth note is half a beat, so two fit in one: "1 and".
How long is a dotted half note? Three beats. A dot adds half the note's length again: 2 + 1 = 3 beats.
A bar in 4/4 has a half note, then a quarter note. What's left to fill the bar? A quarter note or a quarter rest. 2 + 1 = 3 beats, so one more beat fills the four.