Quarter note
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A quarter note (American) or crotchet (British) is a note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note (or semibreve). Quarter notes are notated with a filled-in oval note head and a straight, flagless stem. The stem usually points upwards if it is below the middle line of the stave or downwards if it is on or above the middle line. However, this may be changed if there is more than one part to differentiate between the parts. The head of the note also reverses its orientation in relation to the stem.[citation needed] (See image.)
In Unicode, the symbol is U+2669 (♩).
A related symbol is the quarter rest (or crotchet rest). It denotes a silence of the same duration as a quarter note. The sign is commonly used for it. It appears either as the form or as the form .
The note derives from the semiminima of mensural notation. The word crotchet comes from Old French crochet, meaning 'little hook', diminutive of croc, 'hook', because of the hook used on the note in black notation. However, because the hook appeared on the eighth note (or quaver) in the later white notation, the modern French term croche refers to an eighth note.[citation needed]
The term quarter note is a calque (loan translation) of the German term Viertelnote. The names of this note (and rest) in most European languages are calqued from the same source:
| Language | note name | rest name |
|---|---|---|
| Czech | čtvrťová nota | čtvrťová pauza |
| Dutch | kwartnoot | kwartrust |
| French | noire | soupir |
| German | Viertelnote | Viertelpause |
| Greek | Tetarto (τέταρτο) | Pafsi tetartou (παύση τετάρτου) |
| Italian | semiminima | pausa di semiminima |
| Polish | ćwierćnuta | pauza ćwierćnutowa |
| Portuguese | semínima | pausa de semínima |
| Spanish | negra | silencio de negra |
| Swedish | fjärdedelsnot | fjärdedelspaus |
| Finnish | Neljäsosanuotti | Neljäsosatauko |
The French and Spanish names for the note (both meaning "black") derive from the fact that the semiminima was the longest note to be colored in mensural white notation, which is true as well of the modern form.
The Greek names mean "quarter" (for the note) and "quarter's pause" (for the rest). In Greek, all music rests are called "pauses."
See also
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