Double whole note Double whole note In music, a double whole note (American), breve (international), or double note (; ) is a note lasting two times as long as a whole note (or "semibreve"). It is the second-longest note value still in use in modern music notation (; ). In medieval mensural notation, the "brevis" was one of the shortest note lengths in use —hence its name, which is the Latin etymon of "brief". In "perfect" rhythmic mode, the brevis was a third of a "longa", or in "imperfect" mode, half a "longa" . In modern notation, a breve is commonly represented in
Grace note notes is always noted in terms of exactly half of its principal note, but may be double or more. Where they are multiple, their proper notation must always equal exactly half of the principal note. (i.e. If the principal note is a quarter-note the grace note must be notated as an eighth- note, two sixteenth notes, four thirty-second notes, or eight sixty-fourth notes, if we are to set aside the concept of unnatural subdivisions of the beat such as the triplet, etc.) Grace notes, unlike what are referred to as cue-notes, never affect the rhythmic subdivision, or musical "count" of