Grades 1–3
Note and Rest Partners
Every note has a rest that lasts just as long. Draw a line from each note to its partner rest.
Music theory worksheet · Rests
Meet the Rests Match
A rest is a beat of silence. Draw a line from each rest to its name.
- Grade level
- Grades 1–2
- Time
- About 10 minutes
- Topic
- Rests
- Answer key
- Yes, page 2 of the PDF
- Kids practice
- Naming whole, half, quarter and eighth rests, Matching each rest to the note of the same length, Counting beats of silence, Telling the whole rest from the half rest
What kids do
Printed on the sheet:
- Tip: the whole rest hangs under a line. The half rest sits on top of a line.
Words on this sheet
quarter restwhole resteighth resthalf rest
Teacher tip
Give each rest a nickname: the whole rest is a hole in the ground, the half rest is a hat, and the quarter rest is a squiggle like a lightning bolt.
How to use it
- Teach that a rest is counted just like a note. The beat goes on, but you make no sound.
- Show the hat trick: the half rest sits on a line like a hat, and the whole rest hangs down like a hole.
- Let kids work in pairs and check each other before you show the answer key.
Watch for
Mixing up the whole rest and the half rest. Whole hangs down, half sits up.
Talk about it
- Which rest is as long as a half note?
- Where have you seen or heard this in a song we know?
Take it further
Play a freeze game: move on the notes and freeze on the rests.
US Letter, prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use: print as many copies as you need.
More rests worksheets
Grades 2–3
Beats of Silence
Write how many beats of silence each rest gets when a quarter rest gets one beat.
Grades 2–3
Whole Rest or Half Rest?
A whole rest hangs under the line like a hole. A half rest sits on the line like a hat. Write W or H under each rest.
Grades 3–4
Note and Rest Math
Add the beats of the notes and the rests and write the total. A quarter note gets one beat.
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