Eighth note

What it means

The eighth note lasts an eighth of a whole note, that is, half of a quarter note. In four-four time eight eighths go into a bar, in three-four time six. Like all note values, this one too denotes no absolute duration but a ratio: how long an eighth sounds depends on the tempo.

Within the series of note values the eighth stands between the quarter and the sixteenth; each step halves the value. In compound time signatures such as 6/8 the eighth forms the third of the beat, in simple time signatures its half. The value is the same, its function in the bar a different one.

In the notation

The eighth note has a filled notehead, a stem and a flag. When several eighths stand next to one another, they are joined by a beam instead of flags. The beaming follows the time signature: what belongs to one beat is grouped together. From this the grouping of the bar can be read off in the written image — one reason why correct beaming makes reading considerably easier.

Up to the middle line the stem goes up and to the right, above it down and to the left; in beamed groups it follows the majority of the notes.

Musical use

The eighth is one of the most used note values of all. It carries running accompaniment figures, articulates melodies and, in many pieces, forms the level of motion below the pulse. In slow movements it becomes the beat, in fast ones the subdivision. Playing two eighths in a group unequally — shorter and longer — is usual in some styles, for instance in jazz and in parts of Baroque music; this follows from performance practice, not from the notation.

Performance practice

See that both eighths of a beat are equally long, unless the style calls for otherwise; the second easily comes out too short. Use the beaming when reading to recognise the beats. With eighth-note motion count along “one and two and”, so that the subdivision stays stable.