The recipe with timing
Sheet music is a recipe: the note's position tells you how high or low to sing, and its shape tells you how long to hold it. Reading pitch and rhythm together is how a page of dots becomes a song.
Pitch and duration
Music is written on a five-line staff. A note's vertical position gives its pitch (how high or low); its shape gives its duration. A whole note lasts four beats, a half note two, a quarter note one.
The beat
The beat is the steady pulse you tap your foot to. Note values are measured in beats.