Note values
(note VAL-yooz)

The note value is the duration of a note, or the relationship of the duration of the note to the measure. The duration of a note is as follows in common time or 4/4 time:

Note Values
British Term
American Term
Note having a duration of one full measure. Semibreve Whole note
Note having a duration of one half of a full measure. Minim Half note
Note having a duration of a quarter of a full measure. Crotchet Quarter note
Note having a duration of one eighth of a full measure. Quaver Eighth note
Note having a duration of one sixteenth of a full measure. Semiquaver Sixteenth note
Note having a duration of one thirty-second of a full measure. Demisemiquaver Thirty-second note

The half note (minim) is half the duration of the whole note (semibreve), the quarter (crotchet) is half the duration of the half note (minim), etc .

More about musical notation.
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