Lesson #2

Music notes are musical sounds that are indicated by symbols. Their time length is shown by their colour (white or black) and by stems and flags attached to the note. A clearer explanation of how long to play each of the different musical notes will be in the time signature page. 

There is a total of 5 notes used in sheet music which will be explained below. 

Note: there are two definitions for each music note as one explains how long to hold the note for on the keyboard and the other is the technical term. 

Semibreve (whole note)

  • Longest music note.
  • Has no stem or flags attached.
  • Count: 1 2 3 4

Minim (half note)

  • Has a stem attached to the music note.
  • Half of a whole note.
  • Count: 1, 2

Crotchet (quarter note)

  • Oval filled in and has a stem
  • One beat music note (depending on time signature)
  • Count: 1

Quaver (eighth note)

  • Like a quarter note but has a flag at end of the stem
  • Half of a quarter note

Semiquaver (sixteenth note)

  • Has two flags at end of stem
  • Quarter of a quarter note