In music, a half note (American) or minim (British) is a note played for half the duration of a whole note (or semibreve) and twice the duration of a quarter note (or crotchet). It was given its Latin name (minima, meaning "least or smallest") because it was the shortest of the five note values used in early medieval music notation.[1] Half notes are notated with a hollow oval notehead like a whole note and straight note stem with no flags like a quarter note (see Figure 1). The half rest (or minim rest) denotes a silence of the same duration. Half rests are drawn as filled-in rectangles sitting on top of the middle line of the musical staff, although in polyphonic music the rest may need to be moved to a different line or even a ledger line. As with all notes with stems, half notes are drawn with upward stems on the right when they are below the middle line of the staff and downward stems on the left when they are on or above the middle line. In vocal music, notes on the middle line have a downward stem instead of an upward stem.
Figure 1: A half note with stem facing up, a half note with stem facing down, and a half rest
The American term half note is a 19th-century loan translation of German halbe Note.
The Catalan, French, and Spanish names (blanca, blanche, meaning "white") derive from the fact that the minima was the shortest unfilled note in mensural white notation, which is true of the modern form as well. The form in the earlier black notation resembles the modern quarter note (crotchet). The Greek, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean names mean "half", and in Greek, the modern word (miso – μισό) and older (imisi – ήμισι) are used.
^Morehen, John; Rastall, Richard (2001). "Minim". Grove Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.18736.
March 26, 2023
half, note, this, article, about, musical, note, other, uses, disambiguation, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find,. This article is about the musical note For other uses see Half note disambiguation This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Half note news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message In music a half note American or minim British is a note played for half the duration of a whole note or semibreve and twice the duration of a quarter note or crotchet It was given its Latin name minima meaning least or smallest because it was the shortest of the five note values used in early medieval music notation 1 Half notes are notated with a hollow oval notehead like a whole note and straight note stem with no flags like a quarter note see Figure 1 The half rest or minim rest denotes a silence of the same duration Half rests are drawn as filled in rectangles sitting on top of the middle line of the musical staff although in polyphonic music the rest may need to be moved to a different line or even a ledger line As with all notes with stems half notes are drawn with upward stems on the right when they are below the middle line of the staff and downward stems on the left when they are on or above the middle line In vocal music notes on the middle line have a downward stem instead of an upward stem Figure 1 A half note with stem facing up a half note with stem facing down and a half rest Comparison of duple note values 2 etc vte The American term half note is a 19th century loan translation of German halbe Note The Catalan French and Spanish names blanca blanche meaning white derive from the fact that the minima was the shortest unfilled note in mensural white notation which is true of the modern form as well The form in the earlier black notation resembles the modern quarter note crotchet The Greek Chinese Japanese and Korean names mean half and in Greek the modern word miso miso and older imisi hmisi are used See also EditList of musical symbolsReferences Edit Morehen John Rastall Richard 2001 Minim Grove Music Online doi 10 1093 gmo 9781561592630 article 18736 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Half note amp oldid 1138156548, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
