When learning how to play an instrument, it is very important to learn how to read music.

One way that we are going to learn, is by using the Eastman Counting System.

1 (2) (3) (4) 1 (2) 3 (4) 1 2 3 4

1 te 2 te 3 te 4 te

A whole note gets 4 beats, a half note gets 2 beats, a quarter note gets 1 beat, and an eighth note gets half of a beat.

The Eastman System is very easy to comprehend because every down beat is going to be a number. For example, when taping your foot while playing eighth notes, every time your foot goes down, that is a number (if in 4/4 time, it would be either 1, 2, 3, or 4.)

The rests are the same as the notes except instead of playing, you rest.

When you count a whole note, you say 1, but you hold it for four beats.

When you count a half note, you say 1, but you hold it for two beats.

When you count a quarter note, it is just one beat. If you have four quarter notes, you would count it as 1, 2, 3, 4

When you count an eighth note, it is half a beat. If you have eight eighth notes, you would count it as 1, te, 2, te, 3, te, 4, te.

When counting a whole rest, you silently count 1, 2, 3, 4.

When counting a half rest, you rest for 2 counts and silently count 1, 2 at the same time.