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Beginner Strumming Lesson Nineteen

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The Exercise

This lesson’s exercise mixes eighth notes with quarter rests. Pay attention, because the strumming pattern does not stay the same throughout the entire exercise.

Are You A Whole Gentleman Or Only Half A Gentleman?

In addition to quarter rests, we have whole rests and half rests. A whole rest is easy. You just rest for the whole measure or four beats. A half rest is half of a whole, so we rest for two beats.

A Whole Rest looks like this:
WholeRest Note Values

The half rest looks like this:

HalfRest Note Values

They look very much alike, so how do you tell them apart? I’ll tell you an easy way to remember which is which. First, let’s look at them side by side:

WholeRest Note ValuesHalfRest Note Values

Now imagine that the thick black box is a hat. A whole gentleman would take off his hat. A half-gentleman would leave his hat on. Get it?!