Eighth note Eighth note An eighth note (American) or a quaver (British) is a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) and twice that of the sixteenth note (semiquaver), which amounts to one quarter the duration of a half note (minim), one eighth the duration of whole note (semibreve), one sixteenth the duration of a double whole note (breve), and one thirty-second the duration of a longa, hence the name. It is the equivalent of the "fusa" in mensural notation Eighth notes are notated with an oval, filled-in note head and a straight note stem with one
Half-time (music) Half-time (music) In popular music, half-time is a type of meter and tempo that alters the rhythmic feel by essentially "doubling the tempo resolution" or metric division/level in comparison to common-time. Thus approximates . It is not to be confused with "alla breve" or odd time. Though notes usually get the same value relative to the tempo, the way the beats are divided is altered. While much music typically has a backbeat on quarter note (crotchet) beats two and four, half time would increase the interval between backbeats to double, thus making it hit on beats three and seven, or