Note Values

Time & Groove

Also called note lengths, note durations.

Note values are names for how long a note lasts against the beat. A quarter note takes one beat. Two eighth notes fit in the same space, counted "1 & 2 &". Four sixteenths fill it too, counted "1-e-&-a". Halving keeps going: thirty-second notes run "1-e-&-a-&-e-&-a" if you ever need them.

The symbols look strange at first: noteheads, stems, flags, beams. A quarter note is a plain head with a stem. An eighth gets one flag, a sixteenth gets two. Printers beam notes in groups, usually four sixteenths per beat, so you can see where the beat falls at a glance.

Why you care: charts and drum notation are built from these names. "Play eighths on the hi-hat" means one stroke on every number and every "&". "Sixteenths" means four strokes per beat, counted "1-e-&-a". If you cannot turn a name into strokes per beat, you cannot read a chart.

Tip: say the counts out loud while you play. Numbers are the beats, "&" sits exactly halfway between them, "e" and "a" split what is left. If your mouth can count it evenly, your hands usually follow.