30.10.22 - Rest Groupings in Simple & Compound Time

• ​Every beat should have a rest of its own.

  Look at the following:

​Simple Time

Whole measure rests

​Whole measure rests:

Used to indicate that an entire measure (bar) is silent, regardless of time signature.​

• ​Also rests are included to complete a beat as in the example shown beside in 2/4 time.

• As long as this rule is complied with, as few rests as possible should be used.​

​Simple Time

• ​In 6/8, 9/8 and 12/8, a silence which lasts one complete beat can be shown as either

​Compound Time

Whole measure rests:​ Note that whole measure rests is also applicable in compound time ~

***Everything that was said about rests in simple time can be applied to rests in compound time, bearing in mind the general rule that ‘every beat should have a rest of its own’ now refers to a dotted note.

• The three units of each beat must be grouped as:

​Compound Time

Whole measure rests:​

Note that whole measure rests is also applicable in compound time ~

​More Examples:

​Compound Time

​You may think of the three units of a compound-time beat as being grouped 2 + 1, like a crotchet and a dot, not as 1 + 2. The way the rests are grouped in this example demonstrates the standard practice

• ​If the last two quavers of a dotted crotchet beat are silent, they should always be shown as:-

​Compound Time

Whole measure rests:​ Note that whole measure rests is also applicable in compound time ~