Even Shorter NotesĮven though a sixteenth note seems pretty fast, there are an unlimited number of times we could keep going in that pattern. The sixteenth note looks like a quarter note but with two flags on the stem, as opposed to one flag like the eighth note. This is slightly less common, but you will most likely see these in places where the composer wanted a to create fast moving music. It is played half the amount of time that an eighth note is. In a similar fashion, the sixteenth note represents one sixteenth of a measure. You will soon see that other, shorter notes, have more 'flags' Sixteenth Note It is important to note that there is only one flag on eighth notes. The eighth note looks like a quarter note, but with a flag raised up to its stem. The eighth note is exactly half the length of a quarter note, therefore it takes two eighth notes to equal a quarter note and (what a surprise!) eight eighth notes to complete a measure in standard 2/4, 3/4, or 4/4 time. That is where the name 'quarter note' comes from.Ī quarter note is a solid dot with a straight 'tail' extending up or down. In standard 4/4 time, it takes four quarter notes to complete the measure. Other signatures such as 6/8 or more advanced ones will be much more complicated to convey in this short article so I will stick to the standard time signatures. For the remainder of this lesson, I will be speaking only of 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 time signatures which all have a four on the bottom, denoting that the quarter note receives one beat. When talking about lengths of notes (how many 'beats' they last) we need to keep in mind that the time signature will have an effect on how many beats a note lasts. The different types of notes are outline here and so are the various accents and alterations that can go along with music notes. Some are louder and sharper than others while others are softer and smoother. They tell the musician what note to play and how long to play it for.Īs you may have guess there are several different types of notes, some are short, some are long. These are the building blocks of great music no composition would exist if it weren't for music notes.

Note durations