Thirty-second note
The thirty-second note has three beams or flags. Eight of them fit into a quarter note, so each lasts only an eighth of a beat. It stands for very fast runs and ornaments.
- Value
- 1/32 of a whole note
- Per quarter note
- 8
- Sign
- notehead with stem and three flags or beams
Halving until it gets fast
The principle is on the page Rhythm: every note value is exactly half as long as the one before. A quarter note becomes two eighth notes, four sixteenth notes, eight thirty-second notes. The page Reading music lists it as the sixth card in the series of note values, with three beams and eight notes per beat.
| Note value | Fraction | Number per quarter-note beat | Beams |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter note | 1/4 | 1 | 0 |
| Eighth note | 1/8 | 2 | 1 |
| Sixteenth note | 1/16 | 4 | 2 |
| Thirty-second note | 1/32 | 8 | 3 |
| Sixty-fourth note | 1/64 | 16 | 4 |
How long does it last?
The tempo decides how long a beat is in seconds. At 60 bpm it is one second, so a thirty-second note lasts an eighth of that, 0.125 seconds. At 120 bpm it is only 0.0625 seconds. The symbol library says that such note values are typical of virtuoso runs or fast ornaments at a moderate tempo.
How to count it
The page Rhythm advises speaking the subdivisions aloud and tapping the basic pulse with your foot. For sixteenth notes the count is “1 e and a”, four syllables per beat. For thirty-second notes you would need eight syllables per beat; in practice you therefore count only the basic beat and let the hand carry out the subdivision, or count at half speed with two notes per syllable.
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Related terms
Sixteenth noteEighth noteQuarter noteNote valueBar / measureMetronomeTempo
Editor: Maik Krohm · reviewed on 3 October 2026
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