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 ...

, a sixty-fourth note (American), or hemidemisemiquaver or semidemisemiquaver (British), sometimes called a half-thirty-second note, is a

note Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened version ...

played for half the duration of a

thirty-second note In music, a thirty-second note (American) or demisemiquaver (British) is a Musical note, 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 ...

(or demisemiquaver), hence the name. It first occurs in the late 17th century and, apart from rare occurrences of

hundred twenty-eighth note In music, a hundred twenty-eighth note or semihemidemisemiquaver or quasihemidemisemiquaver is a note played for of the duration of a whole note. It lasts half as long as a sixty-fourth note. It has a total of five flags or beams. Since huma ...

s (semihemidemisemiquavers) and

two hundred fifty-sixth note In music, a two hundred fifty-sixth note (or occasionally demisemihemidemisemiquaver) is a note played for of the duration of a whole note. It lasts half as long as a hundred twenty-eighth note and takes up one quarter of the length of a sixty-f ...

s (demisemihemidemisemiquavers), it is the shortest value found in musical notation.

Sixty-fourth notes are notated with a filled-in oval

notehead 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 ...

and a straight

note stem In musical notation, stems are the, "thin, vertical lines that are directly connected to the otehead." Stems may point up or down. Different-pointing stems indicate the voice for polyphonic music written on the same staff. Within one voice, t ...

with four flags. The stem is drawn to the left of the notehead going downward when the note is above or on the middle line of the staff. When the notehead is below the middle line the stem is drawn to the right of the notehead going upward. A single 64th note is always stemmed with flags, while two or more are usually beamed in groups. Semifusas unidas

A similar, but rarely encountered symbol is the sixty-fourth

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 ...

(or hemidemisemiquaver rest, shown in figure 1) which denotes silence for the same duration as a sixty-fourth note. Notes shorter than a sixty-fourth note are very rarely used, though the

—otherwise known as the ''semihemidemisemiquaver''—and even shorter notes, are occasionally found.

References

Sources * * * "The listener is right to suspect a Baroque reference when a double-dotted rhythmic gesture and semihemidemisemiquaver triplets appear to ornament the theme" (112). *

See also

References

Further reading