In music notation, a quarter rest is a pause in the music lasting for one beat, the same duration as a quarter note. It resembles a stylized bracket drawn in the middle of the staff.

On the staff, a quarter rest looks something like this:

    /\                                                     
---| /-----------------------------------------------------
   |/                                                      
---/-------------------------------------------------------
  /|                   /                                  
-/-|/\-----------------}-----------------------------------
|  |  |                \                                   
|--|--|----------------------------------------------------
 \ |  |                                                    
--\|_/-----------------------------------------------------
   |                                                       
  \|