Maxima (music) notation for examples. The name for this note in European languages is derived from two of the three Latin names, either "maxima" or "larga". (On "larga" as a term, see , 30–31 : "Nomina vero ipsarum sunt haec, scilicet larga, longa, brevis, semibrevis et minima".) In modern theoretical contexts, it is occasionally called an octuple note (; ; ) or an octuple whole note . Maxima (music) A maxima, duplex longa, larga (in British usage: large), octuple note, octuple whole note, or octuple entire musical note was a musical note used commonly in thirteenth and fourteenth century music and occasionally
Note value duration, as at the end of a piece (e.g. at the end of Mozart's Mass KV 192). A single eighth note, or any faster note, is always stemmed with flags, while two or more are usually beamed in groups. When a stem is present, it can go either up (from the right side of the note head) or down (from the left side), except in the cases of the "longa" or "maxima" which are nearly always written with downward stems. In most cases, the stem goes down if the notehead is on the center line or above, and up otherwise.