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{{Short description|Musical note duration}}

In [[music]], a '''half note''' (American) or '''minim''' (Canadian) is a [[note]] played for one half the duration of a [[whole note]], hence the name.

{{About|the musical note}}

{{refimprove|date=October 2014}}

[[imageFile:Half_notes_and_restHalf notes and rest.pngsvg|thumb|right|300px|'''Figure 1.''': A half note with stem facing up, a half note with stem facing down, and a half rest.]]

{{Duple note values}}

In [[music]], a '''half note''' (American) or '''minim''' (British) is a [[Musical note|note]] played for half the duration of a [[whole note]] (or semibreve) and twice the duration of a [[quarter note]] (or crotchet). It was given its Latin name (''minima'', meaning "least or smallest") because it was the shortest of the five note values used in [[mensural notation|early medieval music notation]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Morehen|first1=John|last2=Rastall|first2=Richard|year=2001|title=Minim|encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]]|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.18736}}</ref>

Half notes are notated with a hollow oval [[note headnotehead]] (like a whole note) and a straight [[note stem]] with no [[flag (music)|flags]]s (like a [[quarter note]]; (see Figure 1). A similar symbol is theThe '''half rest''' (or '''minim rest'''), which denotes a silence forof the same duration. Half [[rest (music)|rests]] are drawn as filled-in rectangles sitting on top of the middle line of the [[musical staff]], although in [[polyphonic]] music the rest may need to be moved to a different line or even a [[ledger line]]. As with all notes with stems, half notes are drawn with upward stems toon the right of the notehead, facing up, when they are below the middle line of the staff. Whenand downward stems on the left when they are on or above the middle line,. theyIn arevocal drawnmusic, with stemsnotes on the leftmiddle ofline thehave notea head,downward facingstem downinstead of an upward stem.

The American term ''half note'' is a 19th-century [[loan translation]] of German ''halbe Note''.

[[image:Half_notes_and_rest.png|thumb|right|300px|'''Figure 1.''' A half note with stem facing up, a half note with stem facing down, and a half rest.]]

The Catalan, French, and Spanish names (''blanca'', ''blanche'', meaning "white") derive from the fact that the ''minima'' was the shortest unfilled note in mensural white notation, which is true of the modern form as well. The form in the earlier black notation resembles the modern quarter note (crotchet). The Greek, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean names mean "half", and in Greek, the modern word (''miso'' – μισό) and older (''imisi'' – ήμισι) are used.

Half notes are notated with a hollow oval [[note head]] (like a whole note) and a straight [[note stem]] with no [[flag]]s (like a [[quarter note]]; see Figure 1). A similar symbol is the '''half rest''' (or '''minim rest'''), which denotes a silence for the same duration. Half rests are drawn as filled-in rectangles sitting on top of the middle line of the [[musical staff]]. As with all notes with stems, half notes are drawn with stems to the right of the notehead, facing up, when they are below the middle line of the staff. When they are on or above the middle line, they are drawn with stems on the left of the note head, facing down.

{{Musical notation}}

== See also ==

[[Category:Musical notation]]

* [[List of musical symbols]]

==References==

[[es:Blanca]]

<references />

[[fr:Blanche (musique)]]

[[pl:P&#243;&#322;nuta]]

{{Musical notationnote values}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Half Note}}

[[Category:MusicalNote notationvalues]]

{{music-theory-stub}}