Teaching students to recognise rests is easy. Sure, students might confuse minim rests and semibreve rests on sight (half rests and whole rests), but that’s not difficult to correct. What can be difficult is to teach beginning music students to follow through and actually “play” those rests in their repertoire.
This article was originally published in September 2017, and updated in August 2024.
Being perhaps the most passionate advocate of games-based music theory, I’ve made sure there are plenty of games available to teachers for introducing the concept of rests. But even if our students recognise them from a theory perspective, more often than not we still need an extra step (…or 2 steps…or 5 steps… 🤪) so the rests aren’t just skipped over.
To teach music students to internalise rests and banish the “vanishing silence” problem, try one – or all – of these three creative ideas.
Rest Internaliser No. 1: Add Lyrics
I’m sure many teachers know that giving tricky rhythm patterns specific words is a surefire way to ensure rhythmic accuracy. But have you tried giving the rests a word as well? When adding a word on the rests, it can be helpful to use a sound that seems to make the rests pop, so students don’t get confused about which words belong to notes and which ones belong to rests.
Take this lyric, for example, that could go with the Piano Safari piece, ‘Energized’:
Cook-ies YUM! and ice cream; cook-ies YUM! for me.
Could you tell which word is meant for the rests? Yep. YUM!
To make this learning really stick, create these words along with your student – not for your student – and encourage them to sing out loud while they play.
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Rest Internaliser No. 2: Use ‘Rest Savers’ cards
‘Rest Savers’ cards are an awesome way to teach students not only to see the rests in their music but also actually “play” those rests (or rather, not play them!). Each card has a different fun action reminding students to “save” the rests, such as:
- Point to the sky
- Tap your elbow
- High-five your teacher
Adding movements like these solidifies the idea that, even though the student isn’t playing out loud, the beat goes on. And the randomisation that comes from using cards gives that special illusion of a game, which makes it even more magical to teach music students to “play” rests. 🪄
‘Rest Savers’ are super easy to incorporate into a lesson as they are relatively quick to prepare and use…just print, cut and break out the fun. Try implementing the cards in one of these ways:
- If your student is having trouble with particular types of rests, for example, minim rests (half rests), you could choose that specific rest to trigger the action.
- You could also up the challenge by using a metronome or drumbeat to ensure the action is exactly in time to the beat.
Easy peasy, lemon squeezy rest practice!
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Rest Internaliser No. 3: Sing and Move
Internalising rests can happen off the bench as much as (or quite possibly more) it can while actually playing the piano. Singing songs and attaching movement to the rests away from the piano is a tried-and-true method to help students gain a feel for pulse.
Some of my favourite songs that include rests and movement come from the KodályHub website, like the following:
Bow Wow Wow
This circle game song is typically done in a group but if you’re in a solo lesson situation, you could adapt the motions for a teacher and student with just a tweak or two.
The motions include spinning around or clapping your partner’s hands on the rests. You could also add a spoken “woof” to reinforce the rest. 🐶
Naughty Kitty Cat
I LOVE this Hungarian folk song. It’s so simple but is a hit with basically every student I’ve ever had.
There are many ways to approach the movement for this song. I usually do simple motions and add a “sh” or “tas” on the crotchet rests (quarter rests). But you could certainly add a “meow” instead, or even have the students say absolutely nothing on the rests to reinforce the idea that rests are silent.
Pro tip: This is also a great tune to use when teaching the solfa syllable la.
Who Stole My Chicken?
The nice thing about this song is the rests aren’t just one beat long, so your student will have a chance to practise longer rests while keeping the beat steady. The movement is simply walking while singing and freezing in silence while resting.
In the video above from Durham Music, you’ll see there are many ways to modify this fun song to make it progressively more difficult, further reinforcing a steady pulse (even when it’s just in your head!).
If you like the tips in this article, there are plenty more where those came from! Hop over to the Colourful Keys ‘Teaching Theory’ hub page for the latest and greatest.
Do you have trouble teaching rests?
Tell us your favourite ways to teach students to “play” or internalise rests. We’d love to add your ideas to our toolbelt.