Quarter rest
A quarter rest is a zigzag sign on the staff. It marks a silence as long as a quarter note. In Britain it is called a crotchet rest.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The modern quarter rest is a zigzag: Evans’s Primer (1909) describes it as a stem with a hook at each end, turned in opposite directions. It lasts as long as a quarter note.
An older form
A different quarter rest appears in older music: a short upright stroke with a hook turned to the right, like an eighth rest turned round. Richardson’s Elements of Music (1893) describes the crotchet rest as an upright line with a stroke to the right, and Evans’s Primer (1909) gives both forms. Elson’s Music Dictionary (1905) says the older form was dropped because it was easily confused with the eighth rest. The music-font standard SMuFL still lists it, as the “old-style” quarter rest.
Read next
- Next in Music symbolsEighth restAn 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.
- The same shape in Hyundai dashboard symbolsHyundai Lane Safety indicator lightHyundai’s Lane Safety indicator light for Lane Keeping Assist (LKA): green when LKA’s operating conditions are met, white when they aren’t, yellow for a malfunction.
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), Rest; Crotchet rest
- SMuFL: Rests, Standard Music Font Layout, glyph table U+E4E0–U+E4FF, W3C Music Notation Community Group, U+E4E5, U+E4F2
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 26, 2026. How we research
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