In the English language ‘Quarter Note’ means ‘Crotchet’. Both terms describe a single beat in standard musical notation. Rhythm note names in US English and UK English are different. Both are useful for musicians to learn. The table below lists all 8 note names in both British and American English.
Below is a video Tutorial from the online course You Got Rhythm! A comprehensive guide to help you read and play any rhythm in sheet music easily
Introduction
Today we're talking about the names, in English, for music note values. No need to stress - as you can see in the above table there’s only eight, and out of those eight, we really only use five day-to-day.
In the English language there are actually two systems that are commonly used for the eight note values: One system that has more recently come out of the USA and the other that developed in the United Kingdom. Both systems are common for English speakers.
Learning the American and British words for rhythm note values won’t help you play in time or have a better sense of rhythm. I would like you to know both sets of note names, however, because it removes another barrier to you learning to read and play music. It won’t take long.
Follow along with me to understand the structure which will help you remember all the note values - both in American and British English.
It's handy to use and to know both systems so here’s some structure that might help you:
The logic of the US names: fractions based on Whole Note
American names for rhythm note values begin with the Whole Note. Then fractions are used for the smaller note values.
The logic of the UK names: words for ‘half’ based on Quaver
British names for rhythm note values begin with the Quaver. Note values smaller than the quaver use various terms for ‘half’ piled onto each other: Semiquaver, Demisemiquaver and Hemidemisemiquaver. The remaining, longer note values are the crotchet, minim, semibreve and breve.
Neither system is totally logical
In the British system, Breve is a word that means ‘short’. It is, however, the longest note value that we use today! Back before the beginning of the 17th Century the Breve was one of the shortest note values but during standardization after 1600 it became the longest note value.
Something I find confusing about the American system is the 64th Note which is the shortest note value. It is one-sixteenth of the reference note which is the Quarter Note. It’s called a 64th Note because it's one-64th of the Whole Note.
Words: Not great but necessary for describing music
I always think words are inadequate for describing music. The best music reviewer in the world can’t really deliver that feeling you get when you listen to your favorite music, for example. The same can be said for words to describe written music, i.e. words for the music symbols of standard musical notation.
Standard musical notation does a much better job than words and the words that describe the music symbols of music notation.
Standard musical notation uses the same symbols for all instruments, be it the piano, guitar, saxophone or bagpipes. The same music symbols are used all over the world. Written music can successfully represent and communicate most types of music, no matter which country or culture the music is from.
However, words that describe music and name musical notation are necessary in certain situations to help communicate aspects of music. Requests such as by your piano teacher to ‘play an E-sharp Major Scale’ or by your band conductor to ‘make that semiquaver a bit louder’ are examples.
Music rhythm durations are how long a note is played for. In other words, the relative amount of time to hold a note. As opposed to which pitch to play a note at (eg. A-flat, B, F-sharp, etc.).
Reading music is a rare skill
"Music is a language everyone can speak but hardly anyone can read or write." - Anne Plummer
I find it very curious that reading music is still a rare skill, even amongst extremely successful and famous musicians and music producers.
There has been a democratization of learning to read and write language. From about 1500, literacy was no longer contained in the information silos of monasteries. The same cannot be said, however, of reading and writing music.
Standard musical notation has developed rather haphazardly over hundreds of years. Nevertheless, it has resulted in a written language that today is reasonably good at representing most music the world over. This means that written music can be used around the globe to communicate music, whether it be classical music, country, metal or folk.
The English language is a very flexible and ever-developing beast. It can’t be surprising then that two sets of English terms for rhythm note values developed over time: one for British English and the other American English. That makes learning and remembering note names for rhythm trickier, but not by much.
I grew up in Australia and learnt the system of crotchets, minims and quavers, etc. I can say that I didn’t even know what a quarter note was until the mid-1980’s. Increasingly, however, the musical people in my life, eg. conductors and other musicians I work with are using the US note names. I’ve gotten to the stage where I really have had to learn both US and UK note names to understand. It just took practice to get somewhat comfortable with using quarter note, eighth note and sixteenth note rather than crotchet ,quaver and semiquaver.
Benefits of learning British and American rhythm note names
- Rehearsals: If you’re in a group, choir, band or orchestra, chances are you’ll need to know both. For example, the conductor will ask you to ‘play that half note shorter’ which translates to ‘play that minim shorter’. You’ll be able to respond quickly to the request.
- Music lessons/piano lessons: You’ll want to have available to you the entirety of published instrument tutor books, which will use either USA and UK rhythm note names.
- Online music courses for beginners: You may be taking an online music course, for example for beginner guitar or for beginner piano. If you know both systems, that’s one less language barrier to you learning to play music you love.
- Communicate with other musicians the world over with ease
- Easy to learn - only 16 to learn.
Conclusion
I want you to feel you’ve learnt a useful skill that will connect you with musicians around the world and remove barriers to learning to read, write and play more of the music you love.
Here's a free course to help you improve your sense of rhythm: You Got the Beat!
and check out our new, comprehensive course on rhythm: