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In
music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
, a double whole note (American), breve, or double note lasts two times as long as a
whole note A whole note (American) or semibreve (British) in musical notation is a single note equivalent to or lasting as long as two half notes or four quarter notes. Description The whole note or semibreve has a note head in the shape of a hollow ov ...
(or ''semibreve''). It is the second-longest note value still in use in modern
music notation Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
. The longest notated note is the ''longa'', which could be double or triple the length of a breve, although its use is most commonly found in
early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classical m ...
. The longest notated note (though now obsolete) is the '' maxima''.


History

In medieval
mensural notation Mensural notation is the musical notation system used for European vocal polyphonic music from the later part of the 13th century until about 1600. The term "mensural" refers to the ability of this system to describe precisely measured rhythm ...
, the ''brevis'' was one of the shortest note lengths in use, hence its name, which is the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
etymon Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words and ...
of "
brief Brief, briefs, or briefing may refer to: Documents * A letter * A briefing note * Papal brief, a papal letter less formal than a bull, sealed with the pope's signet ring or stamped with the device borne on this ring * Design brief, a type of ed ...
". In "perfect" rhythmic mode, the brevis was a third of a longa, or in "imperfect" mode, half a longa.


Form

In modern notation, a breve is commonly represented in either of two ways: by a hollow oval
note head In music, a notehead is the part of a note, usually elliptical in shape, whose placement on the staff indicates the pitch, to which modifications are made that indicate duration. Noteheads may be the same shape but colored completely bl ...
, like a whole note, with one or two vertical lines on either side, as on the left and right of the image, or as the rectangular shape also found in older notation, shown in the middle of the image. Because it lasts longer than a
bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...
in most modern
time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...
s in common use, the breve is rarely encountered except in
English music English music may refer to: * Folk music of England * Music of the United Kingdom Throughout the history of the British Isles, the United Kingdom has been a major music producer, drawing inspiration from Church Music. Traditional folk music ...
, where the half-note is often used as the beat unit.


Breve (double-whole) rest

A related symbol is the double whole
rest Rest or REST may refer to: Relief from activity * Sleep ** Bed rest * Kneeling * Lying (position) * Sitting * Squatting position Structural support * Structural support ** Rest (cue sports) ** Armrest ** Headrest ** Footrest Arts and entert ...
(double rest or breve rest), which usually denotes a silence for the same duration.) Double whole rests are drawn as filled-in rectangles occupying the whole vertical space between the second and third lines from the top of the
musical staff In Western musical notation, the staff (US and UK)"staff" in the Collin ...
. They are often used in long silent passages which are not divided into separate bars to indicate a rest of two bars, regardless of the duration of each bar. This and longer rests are collectively known as multiple rests. They are also used to represent whole bar rest for
time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...
only.


Alla breve

Alla breve, the
time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...
, takes its name from the note value breve. In the mensural notation of the Renaissance, it was an alternative term for ''proportio dupla'', which meant that the ''brevis'' was to be considered the unit of time ('' tactus''), instead of the usual ''semibrevis''. The old symbol , used as an alternative to the numerical proportion 2:1 in mensural notation, is carried over into modern notational practice to indicate a smaller relative value per note shape. It is normally used for music in a relatively quick
tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
, where it indicates two minim (half note) beats in a bar of four
crotchet A quarter note (American) or crotchet ( ) (British) is a musical note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note (or semibreve). Quarter notes are notated with a filled-in oval note head and a straight, flagless stem. The stem u ...
s (quarter notes), while is the equivalent of , with four crotchet beats.


See also

*
List of musical symbols Musical symbols are marks and symbols in musical notation that indicate various aspects of how a piece of music is to be performed. There are symbols to communicate information about many musical elements, including pitch, duration, dynamics, ...


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Double Whole Note Note values