Half note

How to read it

The half note has the open head of a whole note with a stem added. Two half notes last as long as a whole note, and one half note as long as two quarter notes. In 4/4 time a half note takes up half a measure. A filled head with a stem is a quarter note; the open head is what makes it a half note.

Also searched as: minim.

Why it is called a minim

The British name comes from the Latin minima, “the least”, because the minim was once the shortest note. Stainer and Barrett’s dictionary (1898) says that in early music it was, as its name implies, of the shortest duration. It cites Thomas Morley’s Introduction to Practical Musicke (1601), which credits its first use to a 14th-century musician Stainer and Barrett call Philippo de Vitriaco.

British and American names

Half note is the American name and minim the British one. The German name, Halbnote, is also “half note”.