Rhythm Trees and Note Value Charts - My Music Resource - Free Printable

This image is a Rhythm Tree that shows how musical notes divide into smaller durations. It starts with the longest note at the top and branches down to shorter notes.

Let’s walk through it step by step:

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At the very top:
→ A whole note (open oval, no stem) = 4 beats in common time.

It splits into two:
→ Two half notes (open oval with stem) = each is 2 beats.
(4 ÷ 2 = 2)

Each half note splits into two:
→ Four quarter notes (filled black head with stem) = each is 1 beat.
(2 ÷ 2 = 1)

Each quarter note splits into two:
→ Eight eighth notes (black head with stem + one flag or beam) = each is ½ beat.
(1 ÷ 2 = 0.5)

Each eighth note splits into two:
→ Sixteen sixteenth notes (black head with stem + two flags or beams) = each is ¼ beat.
(0.5 ÷ 2 = 0.25)

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So the tree visually teaches:
- Each level halves the duration of the note above.
- The number of notes doubles at each level.
- This helps you understand rhythm subdivision — like cutting a pizza in half, then half again, etc.

You can use this to figure out how many small notes fit inside a bigger note.

Example:
How many sixteenth notes are in one whole note?
→ Look at the bottom row: there are 16 sixteenth notes under one whole note. ✔️

Or: How many eighth notes are in one quarter note?
→ From the tree: one quarter note → two eighth notes. ✔️

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Final Answer:
The Rhythm Tree shows how note values divide:
Whole note (4 beats) → 2 half notes (2 beats each) → 4 quarter notes (1 beat each) → 8 eighth notes (½ beat each) → 16 sixteenth notes (¼ beat each).
Each level splits every note into two equal parts, doubling the count and halving the duration.