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The same small rectangle. Which side of a staff line it touches is the entire difference.
Look at the line. A rectangle hanging *below* the fourth line is a whole rest; one sitting *on top of* the third line is a half rest. The shapes are identical, so position is the only information — and a whole rest means a whole bar's silence whatever the time signature, which makes it the one rest whose length is not fixed.
The same rectangle, on the other side of a line.
| Half rest | Whole rest | |
|---|---|---|
| Position | Sits on top of the third line | Hangs below the fourth line |
| Length | Two beats | A whole bar, whatever the metre |
| Shape | Small filled rectangle | Small filled rectangle — identical |
| British name | Minim rest | Semibreve rest |
| Relationship (from Symbolwise's records) | Commonly confused with Whole rest — The same rectangle, on the other side of a line. | Commonly confused with Half rest — Identical rectangles; only whether it hangs below a line or sits on one tells them apart. |
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for what a mark instructs a performer to do and for uncontested history, never for a claim that any body defines staff notation.
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for what a mark instructs a performer to do and for uncontested history, never for a claim that any body defines staff notation.
Both are drawn as one continuous decorative stroke with a closed loop and a tail that crosses back over itself, which is why a description of the shape alone reaches both. The clef is far taller, spans a stave, and its spiral encircles one specific line — that encircled line is the note G, and it is the only reason the shape is drawn where it is.
A small note with a plain stem is an appoggiatura and takes its time from the note it leans on — conventionally about half of it, so the main note is genuinely shortened. A small note with a diagonal stroke through the stem is an acciaccatura and is played as fast as possible, taking almost nothing. The stroke is the only difference on the page, and it is easily lost in a poor reproduction, which is why an ambiguous grace note is worth checking against another edition rather than guessing.
Check where the dot sits. A dot immediately to the right of the notehead adds half the note's value again — a dotted half note lasts three beats. A dot directly above or below the head means staccato: play it short and detached. One dot, two opposite instructions, and only position distinguishes them.
They occupy the same place and are read the same way. A C means four-four; two stacked numerals state any metre explicitly. The C is not an abbreviation of the word 'common' — it descends from a broken circle used in medieval notation to mean imperfect time, and a full circle meant threefold time.