APPENDIX
© E-mu Systems, Inc. 1985
Page 88
Enhanced by The Emulator Archive 2002 www.emulatorarchive.com
APPENDIX B: UNDERSTANDING RHYTHMIC NOTATION
This extremely brief overview is intended solely as a refresher and memory jogger;
for a detailed description of rhythm notation, see any good book on music theory.
Measures: A piece of music is divided into measures, and each measure is divided
into notes. The number of notes, and rhythmic value of the notes, depends both on
the composition and the time signature (see Appendix C).
Note values: With a measure written in 14/11, there are four beats per measure, with
each beat representing a quarter note. Thus, there are four-quarter notes per
measure of 4/4 music.
There are two eighth notes per quarter note. Thus, there are eight eighth notes per
measure of 4/4 music.
There are four sixteenth notes per quarter note. Thus, there are sixteen sixteenth
notes per measure of 4/4
music.
There are eight thirty-second notes per quarter note. Thus, there are thirty-two thirty
second notes per measure of 4/4 music.
There are also notes that span a greater number of beats than quarter notes. A half-
note equals two quarter notes. Therefore, there are two half notes per measure of 4/4
music. A whole note equals four-quarter notes. Therefore, there is one whole note
per measure of 4/4 music.
Triplets: The above notes divide measures by factors of 2. However, there are some
cases where you want to divide a beat into thirds, giving three notes per beat.
Dividing a quarter note by three results in eighth note triplets. The reason why we
use the term “eighth note triplets” is because the eighth note is closest to the
rhythmic value that we want. Dividing an eighth note by three results in sixteenth note
triplets. Dividing a sixteenth note by three results in thirty-second note triplets.
