The note value (duration) of a note is determined by its shape — or figure.
The combination of different note values creates the musical rhythm (not to be confused with tempo, which refers to the overall speed of the music).
The 7 Common Note Values
There are 7 main note values (and 7 musical rests of the same duration): the Whole Note, the Half Note, the Quarter Note, the Eighth Note, the Sixteenth Note, the Thirty-Second Note, the Sixty-Fourth Note.
The beginning of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 3 uses the Whole Note, the Half Note, the Quarter Note, the Eighth Note, the Sixteenth Note, the Eighth Note triplet:
Rhythmic Equivalences Between the Different Note Values
The value of each note duration is always double the value that follows it:
- 1 Whole Note = 2 Half Notes
- 1 Half Note = 2 Quarter Notes
- 1 Quarter Note = 2 Eighth Notes
- 1 Eighth Note = 2 Sixteenth Notes
- 1 Sixteenth Note = 2 Thirty-Second Notes
- 1 Thirty-Second Note = 2 Sixty-Fourth Notes
And so:
- A Whole Note = 4 Quarter Notes, 8 Eighth Notes, 16 Sixteenth Notes, 32 Thirty-Second Notes, 64 Sixty-Fourth Notes
- A Half Note = 4 Eighth Notes, 8 Sixteenth Notes, 16 Thirty-Second Notes, 32 Sixty-Fourth Notes
- A Quarter Note = 4 Sixteenth Notes, 8 Thirty-Second Notes, 16 Sixty-Fourth Notes
- An Eighth Note = 4 Thirty-Second Notes, 8 Sixty-Fourth Notes
- A Sixteenth Note = 4 Sixty-Fourth Notes
British Names
In British English and in countries like Australia and New Zealand, note values have distinct names that differ from American terminology:
- Whole Note = Semibreve
- Half Note = Minim
- Quarter Note = Crotchet
- Eighth Note = Quaver
- Sixteenth Note = Semiquaver
- Thirty-Second Note = Demisemiquaver
- Sixty-Fourth Note = Hemidemisemiquaver
Dotted Notes
A dot behind a music note increases the duration of this note by half of its original value.
For example, as 1 Half Note = 2 Quarter Notes, half of a Half Note = 1 quarter note. So, the duration for 1 dotted Half Note will be 2 Quarter Notes + 1 Quarter Note = 3 Quarter Notes.
The value of the dotted notes for each type of music note is as follow:
- 1 dotted Whole Note = 3 Half Notes
- 1 dotted Half Note = 3 Quarter Notes
- 1 dotted Quarter Note = 3 Eighth Notes
- 1 dotted Eighth Note = 3 Sixteenth Notes
- 1 dotted Sixteenth Note = 3 Thirty-Second Notes
- 1 dotted Thirty-Second Notes = 3 Sixty-Fourth Notes
Triplet
A triplet is the ternary division of a note value. It is a rhythm playing three notes in the space of two.
For example, a quarter note triplet consists of three-quarter notes over the same amount of time as two-quarter notes or a single half note
The famous Adagio from Beethoven’s sonata no. 14, called “Moonlight”, uses eighth-note triplets on each beat, from the first to the last measure. This is the reason why the number 3 which indicates a triplet is only present here in the first measure of the Adagio (play the video to display the first measure, the number 3 indicating a triplet is placed under the group of three eighth notes ):
Duplet and Tuplets
Like the triplet, the duplet is part of the broader family of tuplets, which are irregular groupings of notes played in the time normally allotted to a different number.
A duplet is essentially the reverse of a triplet — a binary division within a ternary context.
Music Notes in Space HN
A free video game to learn note values the fun way. Music Notes In Space HN makes it easy to learn and remember what shape of music note corresponds to what relative value as well as the ratio of any note value to any other.
