Part 2 (1/2)

28. A _note_ is a character expressing relative duration, which when placed on a staff indicates that a certain tone is to be sounded for a certain relative length of time. The pitch of the tone to be sounded is shown by the position of the note on the staff, while the length of time it is to be prolonged is shown by the shape of the note. Thus _e.g._, a half-note on the second line of the treble staff indicates that a specific pitch (g') is to be played or sung for a period of time twice as long as would be indicated by a quarter-note in the same composition.

29. A _rest_ is a character which indicates a rhythmic silence of a certain relative length.

30. The _notes and rests in common use_ are as follows:

[symbol] Whole-note. An open note-head without stem.

[symbol] Half-note. An open note-head with stem.

[symbol] Quarter-note. A closed note-head with stem.

[symbol] Eighth-note. A closed note-head with stem and one hook.

[symbol] Sixteenth-note. A closed note-head with stem and two hooks.

[symbol] Thirty-second-note. A closed note-head with stem and three hooks.

[symbol] Whole-rest.

[symbol] Half-rest.

[symbol] Quarter-rest.

[symbol] Eighth-rest.

[symbol] Sixteenth-rest.

[symbol] Thirty-second-rest.

31. The _English names_ for these notes are:

Whole-note--semi-breve.

Half-note--minim.

Quarter-note--crotchet.

Eighth-note--quaver.

Sixteenth-note--semi-quaver.

Thirty-second-note--demi-semi-quaver.

The corresponding rests are referred to by the same system of nomenclature: _e.g._, _semi-breve rest_, etc.

32. _Sixty-fourth_ and _one-hundred-and-twenty-eighth-notes_ are occasionally found, but are not in common use. The _double-whole-note_ (_breve_), made [breve symbol] or [old breve symbol], is still used, especially in English music, which frequently employs the half-note as the beat-unit. Thus in four-half measure the breve would be necessary to indicate a tone having four beats.

33. The _whole-rest_ has a peculiarity of usage not common to any of the other duration symbols, viz., that it is often employed as a _measure-rest_, filling an entire measure of beats, no matter what the measure-signature may be. Thus, not only in four-quarter-measure, but in two-quarter, three-quarter, six-eighth, and other varieties, the whole-rest fills the entire measure, having a value sometimes greater, sometimes less than the corresponding whole-note. Because of this peculiarity of usage the whole-rest is termed _Takt-pausa_ (measure-rest) by the Germans.

34. A _bar_ is a vertical line across the staff, dividing it into measures. The word _bar_ is often used synonymously with _measure_ by orchestral conductors and others; thus, ”begin at the fourteenth bar after J.” This use of the word, although popular, is incorrect.

35. A _double-bar_ consists of two vertical lines across the staff, at least one of the two being a heavy line. The double bar marks the end of a division, movement, or entire composition.

CHAPTER IV

ABBREVIATIONS, SIGNS, ETC.