Rests are used to indicate silence in music. There are different rests for different lengths of silence just as notes indicate different lengths of sound. The following symbols are very similar. The difference is that the half rest sits on top of the line, while the whole rest hangs below the line.The half rest indicates two beats of silence. The whole rest indicates four beats or a whole bar of silence. Small counting numbers are placed under rests.
The half rest indicates two beats of silence.
The whole rest indicates four beats or a whole bar of silence.