Note Values, Rests and Grouping
What is tested
You are asked to complete a bar with the correct rests, group notes according to the beat of the given time signature, and handle dotted notes, ties and triplets. Most marks are lost on grouping conventions rather than on arithmetic, so practice writing out full bars rather than isolated values.
Common mistakes
The most common loss of marks is completing a bar with one rest of the right total length instead of the rests the metre actually requires. In 4/4, a silent second and third beat is written as two crotchet rests, not one minim rest, because the rest must not obscure the middle of the bar.
Practice with
The tool below checks your answer against the theory engine, so you get the same verdict a marker would.