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Note values (whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth) are fractional proportions of a whole note

Fact L1Foundations A · Music theory & musicianship

The American fractional system names note durations by their proportion to a whole note: whole note = 1 bar in 4/4; half note = 1/2 bar; quarter note = 1/4 bar; eighth note = 1/8 bar; sixteenth note = 1/16 bar; thirty-second note = 1/32 bar. Each value is half the duration of the value above it. This system is universally used in DAW and notation software (vs. the English crotchet/quaver/minim system). Note symbols are visually distinct: whole = open oval; half = open oval with stem; quarter = filled oval with stem; eighth adds a flag; sixteenth adds a second flag.

Examples

In 4/4 at 120 BPM: whole note = 2 seconds; half note = 1 second; quarter note = 0.5 sec; eighth note = 0.25 sec; sixteenth = 0.125 sec.

Assessment

How many eighth notes fit in a half note? How many sixteenth notes fill one bar of 4/4?

Prerequisites — understand these first

Meter groups beats into bars of two, three or four, notated by a time signature

Don't confuse with

A dot after a note extends its duration by half, creating in-between values useful for compound rhythms

Sources

“each note is given a value that refers to its length as a proportion of a whole note. This method uses the terminology whole note, half note, quarter note, and so on.”

corpus · michael-hewitt-music-theory-for-computer-musicians · chunk 11

Taught in modules

Meter, Note Values and Your First Grooves

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