Introducing the notes
Notes and their lengths in simple time
N
otes are the foundation on which
Western musical notation is based –
without them we wouldn’t know what to
play or how long to play it for. We know
what note to play by its position on the stave, which
we’ll address in the next tutorial, and we know how
long to play it for by the type of note it is.
Most notes consist of the note head (the oval-
shaped dot) and a stem either pointing up from the
right of the head, or pointing down from the left.
The only note you’re likely to see at this stage that
doesn’t have a stem is the semibreve/whole note,
which is just the note head (see below for more).
Quavers/eighth notes and shorter (ie semiquavers/sixteenth notes) also have a ‘flag’ attached to them,
which will always be attached to the right of the
note, regardless of its stem direction. As a rule of
thumb, single note heads below the middle line of
the stave should have an upward-pointing stem,
and any above should point down. Stems on single
note heads on the middle line can go either way.So what do these note types tell us? Well, they
dictate how long the pianist should play the note
for. For example, if a piece of music has a minim/half
note on the middle line of the treble clef stave, the
pianist should play a B for two beats. Here we run
through some of the most common notes that you
will find throughout this book.Notes and
their values
Some of the different types of notes you’ll find on the staves
“We know what note to play by its position on
the stave and we know how long to play it for
by the type of note it is”
03 Crotchet/quarter note
A crotchet or quarter note lasts for one beat, so four would make up a whole bar
in 4/4 time. If you are having trouble getting to grips with how long notes last
for, it may be best to start with crotchets.04 Quaver/eighth note & semiquaver/sixteenth note
A quaver/eighth note is half the time value of crotchet/quarter note, and a
semiquaver/sixteenth note is half of a quaver. More than one of these in a row
can be ‘beamed’ together so the score doesn’t get littered with stems.01 Semibreve/whole note
These notes last for four beats which, in a piece of music in 4/4 or common time,
is the whole bar. They don’t have a stem; rather, they are just a note head resting
on the stave.02 Minim/half note
Minims/half notes last for two beats, so two minims in a piece of music in
4/4 time would take up the whole bar. They can be distinguished from other
stemmed notes thanks to the ‘empty’ note head.