Note Values & Rest Durations
The note durations of standard notation — US and UK names, how many beats each lasts in 4/4, and its fraction of a whole note. Rests follow the same lengths.
| US name | UK name | Length in 4/4 | Fraction of a whole note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double whole note | Breve | 8 beats | 2 |
| Whole note | Semibreve | 4 beats | 1 |
| Half note | Minim | 2 beats | 1⁄2 |
| Quarter note | Crotchet | 1 beat | 1⁄4 |
| Eighth note | Quaver | 1⁄2 beat | 1⁄8 |
| Sixteenth note | Semiquaver | 1⁄4 beat | 1⁄16 |
| Thirty-second note | Demisemiquaver | 1⁄8 beat | 1⁄32 |
| Sixty-fourth note | Hemidemisemiquaver | 1⁄16 beat | 1⁄64 |
A dot after a note adds half its value (dotted quarter = 1½ beats); a triplet fits three in the space of two. Convert note values to milliseconds at any tempo with the delay-time calculator.
How to read this
Each note value is half the one above it. The US names describe the fraction; the UK names describe the shape.
dotted note = value × 1.5 (dot adds half)
double dot = value × 1.75
triplet = value × 2/3 (three in the space of two)Notes & gotchas
- Beat counts assume 4/4, where the quarter note gets the beat. In 6/8 the dotted quarter is the beat and the arithmetic changes.
- Dots are cumulative halves — a second dot adds half of what the first added, not another half of the original.
- Rests mirror notes exactly, so the same table reads both ways.
- In code, work in ticks — MIDI files use pulses per quarter note, and 480 PPQ divides cleanly by both 3 and 4, which is why it is so common.