Notes and Rests

Note and rest values are not absolutely defined, but are proportional in duration to all other note and rest values. For the purpose of definition, the duration of the quarter note is represented by R, for "reference length."

Note	Duration	Rest
	Longa Also called a "quadruple whole". This value appears in early music. In modern notation, it is usually represented as semibreves tied across two measures. It is also called an Brasieroule Quatrinote. Duration: 16 R
	Breve Also called a "double whole". Duration: 8 R
	Semibreve Also called a "whole". Duration: 4 R
	Minim Also called a "half". Duration: 2 R
	Crotchet Also called a "quarter". Duration: 1 R
	Quaver Also called an "eighth". Duration: ¹/₂ R
	Semiquaver Also called a "sixteenth". There is correspondence between the number of flags on the note and the number of branches or pawls on the rest. Duration: ¹/₄ R
	Demisemiquaver Also called a "thirty-second". Duration: ¹/₈ R
	Hemidemisemiquaver Also called a "sixty-fourth". Duration: ¹/₁₆ R
	Quasihemidemisemiquaver Also called a "hundred-twenty-eighth" or "semihemidemisemiquaver". Duration: ¹/₃₂ R
	Beamed notes Beams connect quavers and notes of shorter value. In instrumental music, beams reflect the natural rhythmic grouping of notes. In vocal music, beams are used when several notes are to be sung to one beat. The exact rules vary based on the composer or arranger's preference.
	Dotted note Placing dots to the right of the corresponding notehead lengthens the note's duration. One dot lengthens the note by one-half its value, two dots by three-quarters, three dots by seven-eighths, and so on. Rests can be dotted in the same manner as notes.
	Multi-measure rest Indicates the number of measures in a resting part without a change in meter, used to conserve space and to simplify notation. Also called "gathered rest" or "multi-bar rest".

Durations shorter than the 128th are not unknown. 256th notes occur in works of Vivaldi and even Beethoven. An extreme case is the Toccata Grande Cromatica by early-19th-century American composer Anthony Phillip Heinrich, which uses note values as short as 2,048ths; however, the context shows clearly that these notes have one beam more than intended, so they should really be 1,024th notes. The name of these notes can be found with this formula:
$N a m e = 2 (number of flags on note + 2)$ th note.