The smallest value we have seen up to this point is that of the quarter note (crotchet), which lasts for a whole beat. Of course, there are symbols for notes of shorter duration.
Here you can see symbols that take a half (50%) or a fourth (25%) of a beat:
Symbols | Name | Value |
---|---|---|
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Eighth note (quaver) |
Half of a quarter note. We can have two eighth notes for each beat. |
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Sixteenth note (semiquaver) |
One fourth of a quarter note. We can have four of these for each beat. |
It is common practice to beam together the flags of eighth notes and sixteenth notes that are part of the same beat to facilitate reading.
Let's take a look at a musical example using these note values. Note how eighth notes and sixteenth notes are beamed together:
There are shapes for even shorter values than that of the sixteenth note. Please visit the Reference Section for more information.
Translated by Dan Román, revised by Sue Talley.