You have probably noticed yourself tapping a steady beat with your foot when listening to music. Your foot is tapping in time with the music. In music notation, we use music notes of different durations against that beat. In this article, we are going to look at the most common rhythms you will find in music. It is assumed that you have a basic music knowledge. The audio examples are played on a guitar (Note E which is the 6th string open). However, it does not matter if you do not play the guitar. You can either play note E on whatever instrument you can play or simply clap the rhythms. Each audio track has a metronome beat playing along. In fact, each example starts with one bar of the metronome counting you in. This is to tell you how fast the example will be played.

Note Values

The chart below shows you the most common note values and their durations.

<figure class="aligncenter size-large"></figure>

Note: When two or more eighth notes or sixteenth notes are notated next to each other, their tails are replaced by a beam as shown below.

<figure class="aligncenter size-large"></figure>

Whole Notes

The first of the common rhythms we are going to look at consists of whole notes. Whole notes can also be called semibreves. Each whole note is worth 4 counts. Press play on the audio track below and listen to the rhythm notated below. As mentioned earlier, the audio track has a metronome playing along to help you stay in time with the music. After listening to it, and when you are ready, press play again and either play along (note E) or clap the rhythm.

<figure class="aligncenter size-large"></figure>

Half Notes

Half notes can also be called minims. Each half note is worth 2 counts. Press play on the audio track below and listen to the rhythm notated below. After listening to it, press play again and either play along or clap the rhythm.

<figure class="aligncenter size-large"></figure>

Quarter Notes

Quarter notes can also be called crotchets. Each quarter note is worth 1 count. Press play on the audio track below and listen to the rhythm notated below. After listening to it, press play again and either play along or clap the rhythm.

<figure class="aligncenter size-large"></figure>

Eighth Notes

Eighth notes can also be called quavers. Each eighth note is worth half a count. Press play on the audio track below and listen to the rhythm notated below. The first 3 bars are eighth notes and the fourth bar is a whole note. After listening to it, press play again and either play along or clap the rhythm.

<figure class="aligncenter size-large"></figure>

Sixteenth Notes

Sixteenth notes can also be called semiquavers. Each sixteenth note is worth a quarter of one count. Press play on the audio track below and listen to the rhythm notated below. After listening to it, press play again and either play along or clap the rhythm.