Eighth rest
An eighth rest is a slanted stroke with a small hook turned to the left at its top. It marks a silence as long as an eighth note. In Britain it is called a quaver rest.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The eighth rest sits in the third space of the staff. A sixteenth rest has two hooks and a 32nd rest three, all turned to the left. Two eighth rests make a quarter rest’s silence.
Look-alikes
The older form of the quarter rest, found in older music, is a stroke with its hook turned to the right instead.
Read next
- Next in Music symbolsTreble clefThe treble clef, or G clef, curls around the second line of the staff and makes that line the G above middle C. Higher instruments and voices, and a pianist’s right hand, read music written with it.
- The same shape in Certification marksUSDA Organic sealThe USDA organic seal: the product was certified to US national organic standards and is at least 95 percent organic.
More music symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with lines.
Sources
- Primer of Facts about Music, M. G. Evans, 1909, Theodore Presser Co. (Internet Archive, University of Toronto), Q. 18
- Elements of Music, Harmony, and Musical Form, M. I. Richardson, 1893, Rivington, Percival & Co. (Internet Archive, University of Illinois), Part I, Chapter I, §21
- Elson's Music Dictionary, Louis C. Elson, 1905, Oliver Ditson Company (Internet Archive, Cornell University Library), Quaver rest
- SMuFL: Rests, Standard Music Font Layout, glyph table U+E4E0–U+E4FF, W3C Music Notation Community Group, U+E4E6
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 26, 2026. How we research
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