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2 Duration names notes and rests

Lang. note name rest name note name rest name
US long long rest breve breve rest
UK longa longa rest breve breve rest
ES longa silencio de longa cuadrada silencio de cuadrada
IT longa pausa di longa breve pausa di breve
FR longa quadruple-pause brève double-pause
DE Longa longa Pause Brevis brevis Pause
NL longa longa rust brevis brevis rust
DK longa longanodespause brevis brevis(nodes)pause
SE longa longapaus brevis brevispaus
FI longa-nuotti longa-tauko brevis-nuotti, kaksoiskokonuotti brevis-tauko, kaksoiskokotauko

Lang. note name rest name note name rest name
US whole note whole rest half note half rest
UK semibreve semibreve rest minim minim rest
ES redonda silencio de redonda blanca silencio de blanca
IT semibreve pause di semibreve minima pausa di minima
FR ronde pause blanche demi-pause
DE ganze Note ganze Pause halbe Note halbe Pause
NL hele noot hele rust halve noot halve rust
DK helnode helnodespause halvnode halvnodespause
SE helnot helpaus halvnot halvpaus
FI kokonuotti kokotauko puolinuotti puolitauko

Lang. note name rest name note name rest name
US quarter note quarter rest eighth note eighth rest
UK crotchet crotchet rest quaver quaver rest
ES negra silencio de negra corchea silencio de corchea
IT semiminima, nera pausa di semiminima, pausa di nera croma pausa di croma
FR noire soupir* croche* demi-soupir
DE Viertelnote Viertelpause Achtelnote Achtelpause
NL kwartnoot kwartrust achtste noot achtste rust
DK fjerdedelsnode fjerdedelspause ottendedelsnode ottendedelspause
SE fjärdedelsnot fjärdedelspaus åttondelsnot åttondelspaus
FI neljäsosanuotti neljäsosatauko kahdeksasosanuotti kahdeksasosatauko

* About the French naming system: croche refers to the note's "hook". Therefore, from the eighth note on, the note names mean ‘hook’, ‘doubled hook’, ‘trebled hook’, and so on.

The rest names are based on the soupir, or quarter rest. Subsequent rests are expressed as fractions thereof: half a soupir, a quarter of a soupir, and so on.

Each of the following tables contains one type of note and its matching rest, with abbreviations that apply to both notes and rests. Just switch the part that means ‘note’ with the part that means ‘rest’, for example:

I put a dash ‘-’ when I could not find a language-specific abbreviation for a duration name. If you know of one that I missed, please send it to me, care of the lilypond-user discussion list.

Lang. Note name Rest name Abbr.
US sixteenth note sixteenth rest 16th note
UK semiquaver semiquaver rest -
ES semicorchea silencio de semicorchea -
IT semicroma pausa di semicroma -
FR double croche quart de soupir -
DE Sechzehntelnote Sechzehntelpause 16tel-Note
NL zestiende noot zestiende rust 16e noot
DK sekstendedelsnode sekstendedelspause -
SE sextondelsnot sextondelspaus -
FI kuudestoistaosanuotti kuudestoistaosatauko 16-osanuotti

Lang. Note name Rest name Abbr.
US thirty-second note thirty-second rest 32nd note
UK demisemiquaver demisemiquaver rest -
ES fusa silencio de fusa -
IT biscroma pausa di biscroma -
FR triple croche huitième de soupir -
DE Zweiunddreißigstelnote Zweiunddreißigstelpause 32tel-Note
NL tweeendertigste noot tweeendertigste rust 32e noot
DK toogtredivtedelsnode toogtredivtedelspause -
SE trettiotvåondelsnot trettiotvåondelspaus -
FI kolmaskymmeneskahdesosanuotti kolmaskymmeneskahdesosatauko 32-osanuotti

Lang. Note name Rest name Abbr.
US sixty-fourth note sixty-fourth rest 64th note
UK hemidemisemiquaver hemidemisemiquaver rest -
ES semifusa silencio de semifusa -
IT semibiscroma pausa di semibiscroma -
FR quadruple croche seizième de soupir -
DE Vierundsechzigstelnote Vierundsechzigstelpause 64tel-Note
NL vierenzestigste noot vierenzestigste rust 64e noot
DK fireogtredsindstyvendedelsnode fireogtredsindstyvendedelspause -
SE sextiofjärdedelsnot sextiofjärdedelspaus -
FI kuudeskymmenesneljäsosanuotti kuudeskymmenesneljäsosatauko 64-osanuotti

Lang. Note name Rest name Abbr.
US one-hundred-twenty-eighth note one-hundred-twenty-eighth rest 128th note
UK semihemidemisemiquaver semihemidemisemiquaver rest -
ES garrapatea silencio de garrapatea -
IT fusa pausa di fusa -
FR quintuple croche trente-deuxième de soupir -
DE Hundertundachtundzwanzigstel Hundertundachtundzwanzigstel 128tel-Note
NL honderdachtentwintigste noot honderdachtentwintigste rust 128e noot
DK hundredeotteogtyvendedelsnode hundredeotteogtyvendedelspause -
SE hundratjugoåttondelsnot hundratjugoåttondelspaus -
FI sadaskahdeskymmeneskahdeksasosanuotti sadaskahdeskymmeneskahdeksasosatauko 128-osanuotti

Lang. Note name Rest name Abbr.
US two-hundred-fifty-sixth note two-hundred-fifty-sixth rest 256th note
UK demisemihemidemisemiquaver demisemihemidemisemiquaver rest -
ES semigarrapatea silencio de semigarrapatea -
IT semifusa pausa di semifusa -
FR sextuple croche soixante-quatrième de soupir -
DE Zweihundertundsechsundfünfzigstelnote Zweihundertundsechsundfünfzigstel 256tel-Note
NL tweehonderdzesenvijftigste noot tweehonderdzesenvijftigste rust 256e noot
DK tohundredeseksoghalvtredsendedelsnode tohundredeseksoghalvtredsendedelspause -
SE tvåhundrafemtiosjättedelsnot tvåhundrafemtiosjättedelspaus -
FI kahdessadasviideskymmeneskuudesosanuotti kahdessadasviideskymmeneskuudesosatauko 256-osanuotti

See also

mensural notation

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