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This is from Kiss The Rain by Yiruma but the sign before the notes keep bugging me as its position on staff keeps changing and likewise the octave keeps changing and I can't understand how to play it.enter image description hereLike the notes in box are same but the one on the right is of higher octave

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    You'll have to show us more than just that tiny part.
    – Tim
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 14:05
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    When you google music signs the first link is: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musical_symbols
    – Albrecht Hügli
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 8:59
  • @Tim I'm sorry sir for not being able to provide full details I hope this edit might clarify my problem
    – Parth Taggar
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 12:33
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    I don't want to condescend and am sort of curious @ParthTaggar. How did you get to the point of reading this sort of piece without ever having encountered a sixteenth note rest?
    – Awalrod
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 16:51
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    Thanks for the edit. I didn't speak up, but I had wondered before whether there were multiple voices at work. Note that the beginning of the measure has two "voices" in the top staff; the Eb half note is followed by the half rest that is printed on the first space of the staff, and the sixteenth-rest is raised because it belongs to the upper voice.
    – Andy Bonner
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 20:04

1 Answer 1

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That symbol is a "one sixteenth musical rest".

In the notation you supplied, there is a sixteenth rest followed by three sixteenth notes. The four events all fit inside one quarter note.

The two little tails on the sixteenth rest are like shortened versions of the double beams that connect the three sixteenth notes together.

Often the typesetter will move rests vertically up or down the stave so they align better with the phrase they belong to. The vertical position on the stave doesn't affect the duration - it's to make the music easier to follow.

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    Maybe emphasize the part where you don't play the (16th) rest? I'll note that the question says "its position on staff keeps changing and likewise the octave keeps changing", lightly implying that the question asker is prone to treating it like a note.
    – Dekkadeci
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 23:10
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    @Dekkadeci - I've always considered a rest to be a note - a silent note, 'played' for as long as the comparable dot would take. 'Its position' is likely it being placed vertically in different places on the stave, rater than placed in a sequence differently.
    – Tim
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 10:52
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    +1 for answering the question without judgment and including in your answer an explanation of why the symbol moves up and down the staff as the OP asked.
    – shoover
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 18:27
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    Great answer, but since the updated image, I recommend an edit to mention the multiple voices.
    – Andy Bonner
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 20:08

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