Whole note
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In music, a whole note or semibreve is a note notated with a hollow oval note head, like a half note, and no note stem (see Figure 1). Its length is typically equal to four beats in 4/4 time. Most other notes divide the whole note; half notes are played for one half the duration of the whole note, quarter notes are each played for one quarter the duration, etc. The note twice the length of the whole note is the double whole note (or breve).
A related symbol is the whole rest (or semibreve rest), which usually denotes a silence for the same duration. Whole rests are drawn as filled-in rectangles hanging under the second line from the top of a musical staff.
The whole rest, and occasionally the whole note, are also used in a more general way in time signatures other than 4/4; there they can represent the entire measure, regardless of how many whole notes would ordinarily fit in. For example, a whole rest may have a length equal to five beats if used in 5/4 time. If followed by a quarter note, however, it will have the ordinary value.
The whole note derives from the semibrevis of mensural notation, and this is the origin of the British name. The American name is a loan translation of the German Ganze Note.
The names of this note (and rest) in European languages vary greatly:
| Language | note name | rest name |
|---|---|---|
| German | Ganze Note | Ganze Pause |
| French | ronde | pause |
| Italian | semibreve | pausa di semibreve |
| Spanish | redonda | silencio de redonda |
| Portuguese | semibreve | pausa de semibreve |
The French and Spanish names for the note (all meaning "round") derive from the fact that the semibrevis was distinguished by its round stemless shape, which is true as well of the modern form (as opposed to the double whole note or shorter values with stems).
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