Half note

What it means

The half note (German Halbe) lasts half of a whole note, that is, two quarter notes. In 4/4 time two half notes go into a bar; in alla breve it is the beat. Like all note values, it designates a ratio and no absolute duration.

In the series of note values it stands between the whole note and the quarter note. Dotted it yields three quarter notes and thus fills a full 3/4 bar — one of the most frequent spellings of all, because the whole note does not fit into the bar there.

In the notation

The half note has an empty, oval notehead with a stem but without a flag. It thereby differs from the whole note, which has no stem, and from the quarter note, whose head is filled. The stem points up on the right up to the middle line, above it down on the left.

The corresponding half rest sits as a small bar on the third line, while the whole rest hangs below the fourth. These two signs are often confused.

Musical use

Half notes carry calm melodic lines, chorale melodies, and sustained inner voices. In choral writing they often form the level on which the melody moves while accompanying voices run in quarter and eighth notes. In alla breve they are the beat and thus the pulse of the piece; in movements of vocal polyphony they appear as one of the basic values of the notation. They also often stand in closing turns, where the motion comes to rest.

It has a hollow head with a stem.

Performance practice

Count out both beats and let the sound carry to the end — longer values easily turn out too short, especially before an entry in another part. When reading, check the notehead: empty with a stem is a half note, filled with a stem a quarter note. In alla breve, think the half note as a beat and not as a long value. And, with winds and strings, plan breath and bow so that no dropout arises in the middle.