Whole note rest may also be used in music of free rhythm, such as Anglican chant, to denote a whole measure. A whole note (American) or semibreve (British) is a musical note represented by a hollow oval note head—like a half note (or "minim")—and no note stem (see Figure 1). Its length is equal to four beats in time, that is the whole measure (or bar). Most other notes are fractions of the whole note. Half notes last for one half the duration of the whole note, quarter notes (or "crotchets") last for one quarter the duration, and a double whole note
Double whole note a silence for the same duration (; ). Double whole rests are drawn as filled-in rectangles occupying the whole vertical space between the second and third lines from the top of the musical staff. They are often used in long silent passages which are not divided into separate bars to indicate a rest of two bars . This and longer rests are collectively known as multiple rests . Alla breve, the time signature , takes its name from the note value breve. In the mensural notation of the Renaissance, it was an alternative term for "proportio dupla", which meant that