Eighth note: symbol, beams and how to count it

Eighth notes are the notes that make music feel like it is moving. They are half as long as a quarter note, so they come in pairs on each beat. If you have ever tapped a quick, even rhythm along with a pop song, you were most likely tapping eighth notes.

What does an eighth note look like?

A single eighth note has a filled notehead, a stem, and one small flag curling off the top of the stem. The flag always points to the right, whether the stem goes up or down. It is the flag that tells you the note is shorter than a quarter note.

What is a beam?

When two or more eighth notes sit next to each other, the flags are usually replaced by a thick line called a beam that joins the stems together. One beam means eighth notes. Beams make rhythm easier to read because they show which notes belong to the same beat. Singers' music often uses separate flags to match the syllables of the words, but the length is the same either way.

How many beats does an eighth note get?

In 4/4, 3/4 and 2/4, an eighth note gets half a beat. Two eighth notes together last one beat, the same as one quarter note. In 4/4 a measure holds eight eighth notes. In 2/2 time, where the half note gets the beat, an eighth note gets a quarter of a beat.

In 6/8 time the eighth note is the smallest basic unit, and a measure holds six of them, grouped as two sets of three. The beat in 6/8 is usually felt as the dotted quarter note, so each beat holds three eighth notes. See the 6/8 time signature page for how that works.

How to count eighth notes

Say "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &". The numbers fall on the beat, and the "&" (read "and") falls exactly halfway between the beats. Your foot goes down on each number and up on each "&." Eighth notes that land on the number are called downbeat eighths, and the ones on the "&" are upbeat eighths.

1. Tap your foot on each number: 1, 2, 3, 4.
2. Say "&" on the upward motion of your foot between the numbers.
3. Clap on every number and every "&" for a steady run of eighth notes.
4. Now skip a clap on some of the "&"s to feel eighth notes mixed with quarter notes.

Eighth notes in groups

In 4/4, eighth notes are normally beamed in groups of two or four, so that each group shows where the beats are. In 3/4 they are often grouped by the beat, in pairs. In 6/8 they are grouped in threes. Beaming a group differently would not change the sound, but it would make the music harder to read, so editors follow these habits closely.

Eighth note, quaver and other names

The British name is quaver. A quaver rest is an eighth rest, and a semiquaver is a sixteenth note. Speakers in the United States call it an eighth note because it is one eighth of a whole note.

How the eighth note relates to other notes

Two eighth notes equal one quarter note, four equal one half note and eight equal one whole note. Each eighth note can be split into two sixteenth notes. When the notes land off the beat, such as on every "&," the result is often called syncopation. Learn more about all of these on the note values page.

Eighth notes appear in almost every style, from folk songs to jazz and rock. A drummer playing steady eighth notes on a cymbal is keeping time in the same way that quarter notes would, only twice as busy. Being able to count the "&" accurately is one of the most useful skills in reading rhythm, so it is worth practicing slowly.

Common mistakes

• Treating an eighth note as one beat. In 4/4 it is half a beat.
• Rushing the "&." Each eighth note should be exactly the same length as the others.
• Thinking beamed notes are different from flagged ones. They are the same value; beams just connect them.

Check yourself

Related pages

• Note values: how long each note lasts
• Quarter note: symbol, beats and counting
• Sixteenth note: symbol and how to count it
• Syncopation in music
• 6/8 time signature
• 4/4 time signature
• Time signatures explained