What is "sixty-fourth note"

Sixty-fourth \Six`ty-fourth"\, a. Constituting or being one of sixty-four equal parts into which a thing is divided.

Sixty-fourth note (Mus.), the sixty-fourth part of a whole note; a hemi-demi-semiquaver.

alt. (context music English) a note with 1/64 the value of a whole note n. (context music English) a note with 1/64 the value of a whole note

n. a musical note having the time value of a sixty-fourth of a whole note [syn: hemidemisemiquaver]

In music notation, a sixty-fourth note (American), or hemidemisemiquaver or semidemisemiquaver (British) is a note played for half the duration of a thirty-second note (or demisemiquaver), hence the name. It first occurs in the late 17th century and, apart from rare occurrences of hundred twenty-eighth notes (semihemidemisemiquavers) and two hundred fifty-sixth notes (demisemihemidemisemiquavers), it is the shortest value found in musical notation .

Sixty-fourth notes are notated with a filled-in oval note head and a straight note stem with four flags. The stem is drawn to the left of the note head going downward when the note is above or on the middle line of the staff. When the note head is below the middle line the stem is drawn to the right of the note head going upward. Multiple adjacent sixty-fourth notes may have the flags connected with a beam.

A similar, but rarely encountered symbol is the sixty-fourth rest (or hemidemisemiquaver rest, shown on the right of the image) which denotes silence for the same duration as a sixty-fourth note.

Notes shorter than a sixty-fourth note are very rarely used, though the hundred twenty-eighth note (otherwise known as the semihemidemisemiquaver ) and even shorter notes, are occasionally found.

The names of this note (and rest) vary greatly in many languages:

Language

note name

rest name

Basque

erdifusa

Catalan

semifusa

silenci de semifusa

Chinese

六十四分音符 ( pinyin: liùshísìfēn yīnfú)

六十四分休止符 ( pinyin: liùshísìfēn xiūzhǐfú)

Danish

fireogtresindstyvendedelsnode

fireogtresindstyvendedelspause

Dutch

vierenzestigste noot

vierenzestigste rust

French

quadruple-croche

seizième de soupir

German

Vierundsechzigstelnote

Vierundsechzigstelpause

Greek

εξηκοστό τέταρτο

παύση εξηκοστού τέταρτου

Italian

semibiscroma

pausa di semibiscroma

Korean

64분음표(六十四分音標 yuksipsabun eumpyo)

64분쉼표(六十四分-標 yuksipsabun swimpyo)

Norwegian

sekstifiredelsnote

Polish

sześćdziesięcioczwórka

pauza sześćdziesięcioczwórkowa

Portuguese

semifusa

pausa de semifusa

Russian

шестьдесят четвертая нота

шестьдесят четвертая пауза

Serbian

šezdesetčetvrtin(k)a / шездесетчетвртин(к)а

šezdesetčetvrtinska pauza / шездесетчетвртинска пауза

Spanish

semifusa

silencio de semifusa

"Semifusa" derives from the mensural notation corresponding to the modern sixteenth note.