Saint Mary’s University

SCHOOL OF HEALTH and NATURAL SCIENCES

Nursing Department
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

Josiah Jezreel O. Verano 10/21/2021

BSN 2D FIT 5417

1. Identify the different kinds of notes and give its corresponding value.

Semibreve (Whole Note) - 4 beats

The first note is called a semibreve or in the US it’s called a ‘whole note’. It’s like a
small oval shaped zero or letter O which is a good way to think of it when you first begin
writing music. We call this oval-shaped part of a note ‘the note head’. A semibreve has
a value of four beats. That means when we play a semibreve, we count to four whilst
holding the note.

Minim (Half Note) – 2 beats

The second note we’ll look at is called a minim or ‘half note’. It’s similar to a semibreve
but has a line coming out of the right-hand side of its note head. This line is called a
stem. The stem halves the value of the note and so a minim has a value of two beats.
That means that we count to two when playing a minim, half as long as a semibreve.

Crotchet (Quarter Note) – 1 beat

Next, we have a crotchet or ‘quarter note ‘. It’s like a minim but, it has its note head filled
in black. This halves the value of the note again and so a crotchet has a value of one
beat, half as long as a minim.

1st Floor, Constant Jurgens (UB) Building

Saint Mary’s University, Ponce St., Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, 3700 Philippines
Telephone: (078) 321-2221 ext. 122; Telefax: (078) 321-2117; Mobile No.: 0936-286-7269
 Saint Mary’s University
SCHOOL OF HEALTH and NATURAL SCIENCES
Nursing Department
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

Quaver (Eighth Note) – ½ beat

This note is a quaver or ‘eighth note.’ It’s like a crotchet but, it also has a tail coming out
of the side of its stem. The note tail is also referred to as a flag or a hook. The tail
halves the value of the note again and so a quaver has a value of half a beat, half as
long as a crotchet.

Semiquaver (16th Note) – ¼ beat

Up next, we have a semiquaver or ‘sixteenth note.’ It’s like a quaver but has two tails
coming out of its stem. This means that it’s half the value of quaver and so is worth one-
quarter of a beat.

Demisemiquaver (32nd Note) – 1/8 beat

Here we have a demisemiquaver or ‘32nd note’. You can see it has three tails (one
more than a semiquaver). A demisemiquaver is worth half the value of a semiquaver
and so is worth one-eighth of a crotchet beat.

Hemi demisemiquaver (64th note)

A hemi demisemiquaver (I know it’s a bit of a mouthful) or in the US it’s referred to as a

‘64th note ‘is just like a demisemiquaver but with an additional tail. It’s very uncommon
though so don’t worry about it too much! You can get even shorter notes than this such
as the semi hemi demisemiquaver (128th note) and the demi semi hemi
demisemiquaver (256th note) but I’m not going to cover those as they’re extremely rare.

1st Floor, Constant Jurgens (UB) Building

Saint Mary’s University, Ponce St., Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, 3700 Philippines
Telephone: (078) 321-2221 ext. 122; Telefax: (078) 321-2117; Mobile No.: 0936-286-7269
 Saint Mary’s University
SCHOOL OF HEALTH and NATURAL SCIENCES
Nursing Department
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

Breve (double whole note) – 8 beats

You can also have a note called a breve or ‘double whole note’ which is worth eight
beats, twice as long as a semibreve. It’s quite uncommon as well but you will need to
know about it for a grade 5 music theory exam.

2. Find out the value of a dotted note

A dot written after a note adds one-half of the note's value to the original note's
value. A quarter note equals one beat. A dot after the quarter note adds ½ beat (½
of the original value). A dotted quarter note equals 1½ beats.

3. How do we clap a note?

While keeping a steady beat, try clapping and counting the following examples. Clap
once and keep your hands together while counting "1-2-3-4" for a whole note. Clap
and hold your hands together for two beats for each half note, counting, "1-2, 3-4." Clap
once for each quarter note counting, "1, 2, 3, 4." Clap eight eighth notes twice as fast as
the previous quarter notes saying,"1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &," dividing each beat in half.
Sixteenth notes are twice as fast again, dividing the beat into four equal parts. Quickly
clap sixteen sixteenth notes while saying, "1 e & a, 2 e & a, 3 e & a, 4 e & a." Triplets
divide each beat into three equal parts and are counted with the syllables "trip-o-let."
Clap once for a dotted half note and keep your hands together while saying, "1-2-3." A
dotted half note is equal to three quarter notes.

3. time signature of 2/4, what do we mean by the upper number and the lower
number?
2 quarter beats
A time signature of 2-4 means there are 2 quarter beats in each measure. A time
signature of 2-2 means there are 2 half beats in each measure. The top number tells
you how many beats are in each measure while the bottom number tells you what
value those beats are. If the bottom number is a 4, it means the beats are quarter
notes. If it's a 2 it means the beats are half notes and if it's an 8 it means the beats
are 8th notes. The lower numeral indicates the note value that represents one beat
(the beat unit). This number is typically a power of 2. The upper numeral indicates
how many such beats constitute a bar.

1st Floor, Constant Jurgens (UB) Building

Saint Mary’s University, Ponce St., Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, 3700 Philippines
Telephone: (078) 321-2221 ext. 122; Telefax: (078) 321-2117; Mobile No.: 0936-286-7269