One of the wonderful things about the chord symbol, is that you can just scribble it on a piece of paper - tah-dah - instant song form! But in the context of written music, with a melody ...

A rest is a gap or silence in the music where you don't play and this is the symbol for a one beat rest and to show a rest we're going to do this sssh. Naomi: OK? Sssh. Mrs Thomas: Brilliant.

Composers use a range of signs and symbols to show how they want their music to be played. This was essential in times before music could be recorded and replayed, but it is still important today.