WHOLE NOTE, HALF NOTE, QUARTER NOTE

Below are three important ways of representing a note depending on its duration in time. The quarter note, which often represents the beat of the metronome, the half note, which equals two quarter notes, and the whole note, which equals two half notes or four quarter notes.

QUARTER NOTE (ONE-BEAT NOTE)

A beat, like the one from a metronome, is often represented by a quarter note, also called a crotchet. It looks like a black oval head (a filled circle) with a stem. At the beginning of the staff, we find the time signature (see article on time signature), made of two numbers stacked one above the other. When the bottom number is four, it means that each beat equals a quarter note. So, in many cases (but not always), the quarter note matches the metronome’s pulse.

HALF NOTE (TWO-BEAT NOTE)

A half note contains two quarter notes inside it. If we turn on the metronome and play this note on one beat, we must hold the sound through the next beat before stopping. In other words, this kind of note includes two beats.

However, sometimes it can represent just one beat, especially when the bottom number of the time signature is 2 instead of 4.

WHOLE NOTE (FOUR BEAT-NOTE)

The whole note, also called a semibreve, is equal to four quarter notes, and it fills the entire measure. When we see this symbol, it means we play a note that lasts for 4 beats (4 quarter notes). It's rarely used to represent the main beat¹, but if the main beat is the half note, then the whole note only lasts for two beats instead of four.

NOTE

1. except in some early music