Quarter Note

The quarter note appears on the musical staff as a circle with either an up or down stem. Unlike the whole and half notes, the circle is filled in.

This note receives one full beat of the measure. In standard 4/4 time signatures, the quarter gets one beat. In the example beat above, the hi hat plays four quarters which are counted 1-2-3-4. The snare plays two quarters counted as (rest)-2-(rest)-4. The bass drum plays two half notes which we covered previously.

I’ve set up some exercises that show you all sixteen possible placements of quarters. See my quarter notes drum lesson for these exercises.

You’ve learned the quarter note, now move on to eighth notes.