Lesson 4

Note values

How long a note lasts: whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth.

Shape is duration

The oval, stem, and flags tell you how long to hold a note — not which pitch it is. Pitch is where the note sits. Duration is how it is drawn.

Whole note — open oval, no stem. Four beats in 4/4.

Half note — open oval with a stem. Two beats.

Quarter note — filled oval with a stem. One beat.

Eighth (one flag) and sixteenth (two flags).

Each value is half the previous one: a whole splits into two halves, a half into two quarters, a quarter into two eighths, an eighth into two sixteenths.

Try it

Next: Rests