Note value Note value In music notation, a note value indicates the relative duration of a note, using the texture or shape of the "note head", the presence or absence of a "stem", and the presence or absence of "flags/beams/hooks/tails". Unmodified note values are fractional powers of two, for example one, one-half, one fourth, etc. A rest indicates a silence of an equivalent duration. The breve appears in several different versions, as shown at right. The first two are commonly used; the third is a stylistic alternative. Sometimes the longa or breve is used to indicate a very long note of indefinite
Whole note of mensural notation, and this is the origin of the British name. The American name is a calque of the German . The Catalan, French and Spanish names for the note (meaning "round") derive from the fact that the was distinguished by its round stemless shape, which is true as well of the modern form (in contrast to the double whole note or shorter values with stems). The Greek name means "whole". Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese names mean "whole note". Whole note In music, a whole note (American) or semibreve (British) is a note represented by a hollow oval