The equivalences between note values tell you how many notes of one kind fit in another: two quarter notes (UK: crotchets) fit in a half note (UK: minim), and three eighth notes (UK: quavers) fit in a dotted quarter note. This exercise practices them in both directions, how many fit and which note equals a group, and also with dots and double dots.
Note value equivalence chart
Each note lasts twice as long as the next one. These equivalences do not depend on the time signature: a half note equals two quarter notes in 2/4 as well as in 6/8. What does change with the time signature is how many beats each note lasts, because in 2/4 the beat is the quarter note and in 6/8 it is the dotted quarter note.
| Note | Half notes | Quarter notes | Eighth notes | Sixteenth notes | 32nd notes | 64th notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 32 | 64 |
| Half note | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 32 |
| Quarter note | — | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| Eighth note | — | — | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Sixteenth note | — | — | — | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 32nd note | — | — | — | — | 1 | 2 |
The thirty-second and sixty-fourth notes are in the charts for reference; the exercise goes as far as the sixteenth note.
With dots and double dots
A dot adds half of the value, so the note comes to last three of the notes that used to make two: a quarter note is two eighth notes, and a dotted quarter note is three. A double dot adds a second dot, which adds half of what the first one adds: a quarter note is four sixteenth notes, the first dot adds two and the second adds one. In total, 4 + 2 + 1 = seven sixteenth notes.
| Note | Equals |
|---|---|
| Dotted whole note | 3 half notes = 6 quarter notes = 12 eighth notes |
| Dotted half note | 3 quarter notes = 6 eighth notes = 12 sixteenth notes |
| Dotted quarter note | 3 eighth notes = 6 sixteenth notes |
| Dotted eighth note | 3 sixteenth notes = 6 32nd notes |
| Dotted sixteenth note | 3 32nd notes = 6 64th notes |
| Dotted 32nd note | 3 64th notes |
| Double-dotted whole note | 7 quarter notes = 14 eighth notes |
| Double-dotted half note | 7 eighth notes = 14 sixteenth notes |
| Double-dotted quarter note | 7 sixteenth notes = 14 32nd notes |
| Double-dotted eighth note | 7 32nd notes = 14 64th notes |
| Double-dotted sixteenth note | 7 64th notes |
Printable worksheet (PDF)
The same exercise on paper: 18 questions on one A4 sheet, nine of "how many fit?" and nine of "which note is it?". With a separate answer sheet, with the answers in red.
Download the worksheet (A4 PDF) Answers
You can print and photocopy it freely for class. The theory is in note values, and there is more practice in note value and rhythm exercises.