Quarter note
A quarter note is a filled-in oval with a stem. It lasts a quarter as long as a whole note, and is the beat in 4/4 time. In Britain it is called a crotchet.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The quarter note has a filled (black) head and a stem. Four quarter notes last as long as a whole note, and two as long as a half note. In 4/4 time there are four quarter-note beats in each measure. The stem goes up from the right of the head when the note is below the middle line of the staff, and down from the left when it is above; on the middle line it can go either way.
Also searched as: crotchet.
Look-alikes
A half note has the same stem but an open head. An eighth note has a filled head too, with a flag on its stem.
British and American names
Quarter note is the American name; in Britain it is a crotchet. The German name is Viertel or Viertelnote, “quarter”.
Read next
- Next in Music symbolsEighth noteAn eighth note is a filled-in oval with a stem and one flag. It lasts half as long as a quarter note. In Britain it is called a quaver.
- The same shape in African flagsFlag of EthiopiaEthiopia’s flag is green, yellow and red in equal horizontal stripes with a blue disc in the centre holding a yellow star of equal lines with yellow rays. Ethiopia’s Flag Proclamation makes the green labour, fertility and development, the yellow hope, justice and equality, and the red sacrifice and heroism for freedom and equality; the blue disc is peace and the star the unity of Ethiopia’s nations, nationalities and peoples.
More music symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with circles or lines.
Sources
- Music Notation and Terminology, Karl W. Gehrkens, 1914, A. S. Barnes Company (Project Gutenberg), Chapter III, §30–31
- Primer of Facts about Music, M. G. Evans, 1909, Theodore Presser Co. (Internet Archive, University of Toronto), Q. 14
- Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom: Durational Symbols, Robert Hutchinson, section 4.2, University of Puget Sound, Section 4.2
- Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom: Time Signature, Robert Hutchinson, section 4.1, University of Puget Sound, Section 4.1
- Elson's Music Dictionary, Louis C. Elson, 1905, Oliver Ditson Company (Internet Archive, Cornell University Library), Notes (table of names)
- SMuFL: Individual notes, Standard Music Font Layout, glyph table U+E1D0–U+E1EF, W3C Music Notation Community Group, U+E1D5
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 26, 2026. How we research
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