If you have a whole note in, for example, 6/4 time, it’s still called “a whole note.” But it’s “whole” referring to common time. A whole note is a WHOLE note, because it comprises the WHOLE measure. If you think about it, 8th notes are called “8th notes” because there are eight notes in a measure of 4/4 time (common time). When you’re writing, this method will save space, and it’s just a nice shorthand for your terminology.Ĭommon Time: The Basis of All Note Values It also makes your terminology more consistent, regardless of the type of note you’re discussing.

This method is especially easier when you’re writing on the Internet and typing.

In this article, I’m going to talk about the way we discuss tuplet patterns and how we can make it a little bit easier. And we also have tuplet patterns, such as half note triplets, quarter note triplets, 8th note triplets, 16th note triplets, and so forth. We’re used to whole notes, half notes, quarter, notes, 8th notes, 16th notes, etc. Most musicians don’t frequently deal with this particular concept I’m going to discuss, but drummers and percussionists deal with it all the time. Today I want to talk about rhythm terminology.

The following is a modified transcript of the video above: Do you know how to count 24th notes, 40th notes, or 48th notes? James walks you through some terminology that may just revolutionize your understanding of rhythm.

How to count 32nd notes piano