Double whole note either of two ways: by a hollow oval note head, like a whole note, with one or two vertical lines on either side, as on the left of the image, or as the rectangular shape also found in older notation, shown in the middle of the image (; ). Because it lasts longer than a bar in most modern time signatures in common use, the breve is rarely encountered except in English music, where the half-note is often used as the beat unit . A related symbol is the double whole rest (double rest or breve rest), which usually denotes
Time signature The meter is a simple time signature that represents three quarter notes (crotchets). It is felt as "Compound": In principle, comprises not three groups of two eighth notes (quavers) but two groups of three eighth-note (quaver) subdivisions. It is felt as These examples assume, for simplicity, that continuous eighth notes are the prevailing note values. The rhythm of actual music is typically not as regular. Time signatures indicating "two" beats per bar (whether in simple or compound meter) are called "duple meter", while those with "three" beats to the bar are "triple meter". Terms such as "quadruple" (4), "quintuple" (5),