Notehead
The oval main part of a note, whose position shows the pitch.
What it means
The notehead is the oval main part of a note. Its position on or between the staff lines shows the pitch: the higher it stands on the staff, the higher the note sounds. Beside the stem, the flag and the beam, it is one of the components of a note.
In the notation
The shape of the head reveals the note value: in semibreves and minims it is hollow, in crotchets and shorter values it is filled in. On an upward-pointing note the stem attaches at the right of the head, on a downward-pointing note at the left. The semibreve has no stem. Special notations use other head shapes, for example crosses for percussion or diamonds for harmonics.
Musical use
The shape of the notehead developed from the note signs of the Middle Ages, which were at first square or diamond-shaped. Only in time did the oval shape prevail. The size is chosen so that the head fills exactly one line or one space.
The notehead should be distinguished from the stem and the flag, which together with the head determine the duration, and from the whole note sign, which also includes the beam.
Performance practice
Learn to assign noteheads quickly to a line or a space. Pay attention to whether the head is filled or hollow, since this tells you at once whether a note is long or short.