Learn basic rhythm. Music is broken into measures. In 4/4 time (the most common time signature in modern music), there are four beats per measure. You count the beats as one, two, three, four. A quarter note receives one beat, half notes two beats and whole notes four beats. Any combination of notes can be used in any measure as long as it equals four beats. In 3/4 time, there are three beats per measure, and in 2/4, there are two beats.
Recognize eighth and sixteenth notes. An eighth note is indicated by a flag on the stem. When two or more eighth notes occur together, they are joined by a bar connecting the stems. Sixteenth notes have two flags or are joined by two bars.
Learn to count eighth notes. An eighth note receives one-half beat. In other words, two eighth notes equal one quarter note. If you think of quarter notes as walking, eighth notes are running. In this sheet music example, the final measure could be read as running-walk-running-walk. Another way to count eighth notes is to count the main beat with a number and the half beat with "and." The same measure in the picture is counted as one-and, two, three-and, four.
Learn to count sixteenth notes. A sixteenth note is equal to one-quarter beat. Four sixteenth notes make up one quarter note or two sixteenth notes equal one eighth note. To count sixteenth notes, the rhythm is one-e-and-a, two-e-and-a, etc. The number and the "and" counts occur on the beat and half-beat.
Learn alternate rhythms. Many pieces of piano music are written in 6/8 or 3/8 time, rather than the more common 4-count time signatures. In both times, an eighth note is equal to one beat and a sixteenth note is equal to one-half beat. You count the eighth notes as one, two, three and count the sixteenth notes as one-and, two-and, three-and.