In
music, a thirty-second note (American) or demisemiquaver (British) is a
note played for of the duration of a
whole note (or ''semibreve''). It lasts half as long as a
sixteenth note (or ''semiquaver'') and twice as long as a
sixty-fourth (or ''hemidemisemiquaver'').
Thirty-second notes are notated with an oval, filled-in
note head and a straight
note stem with three flags or
beams. A single thirty-second note is always stemmed with flags, while two or more are usually beamed in groups.
[Gerou, Tom (1996). ''Essential Dictionary of Music Notation'', p.211. Alfred. ]
As with all notes with stems, thirty-second notes are drawn with stems to the right of the notehead, extending up, when they are below the middle line of the
musical staff. When they are on or above the middle line, they are drawn with stems on the left of the note head, extending down. Flags are always on the right side of the stem, and curve to the right. On stems extending up, the flags start at the top and curve down; for downward extending stems, the flags start at the bottom of the stem and curve up. When multiple thirty-second notes or
eighth notes (or
sixteenth
The 16th century begins with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (Roman numerals, MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (Roman numerals, MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar ...
s, etc.) are next to each other, the flags may be connected with a
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
. Similar rules apply to smaller divisions such as
sixty-fourth notes.
A related symbol is the thirty-second rest or demisemiquaver rest (shown to the right), which denotes a silence for the same duration as a thirty-second note.
See also
*
List of musical symbols
References
Note values
fr:double croche
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