Whole note: symbol, beats and counting

The whole note is the longest note value in everyday music. It looks like a hollow oval with no stem, no flag and no beam. Because it has nothing attached to it, it is the easiest note symbol to recognize, and it is the note that every other value is measured against: a half note is half of it, a quarter note a quarter of it, and so on.

What does a whole note look like?

A whole note is an open (white) notehead shaped like a slightly tilted oval, with no stem. The notehead sits on a line or in a space, and that position tells you the pitch. The same hollow oval is used for the half note, but the half note has a stem. If there is no stem, it is a whole note.

How many beats does a whole note get?

In 4/4 time, also called common time, a whole note gets 4 beats. That is one whole measure. The same is true in any time signature with a 4 on the bottom and a 4 on top. The reason is that the bottom number 4 means the quarter note gets one beat, and a whole note is the length of four quarter notes.

In other time signatures the answer changes. In 2/2, or cut time, the half note gets the beat, so a whole note gets 2 beats. In 3/4 a whole note is too long to fit in one measure, because a 3/4 measure only holds 3 quarter-note beats. You would need a tied note to make a sound that long. In 6/8 a whole note would last 8 eighth notes, which is longer than the 6 eighth notes in a measure.

How to count a whole note

Count "1 2 3 4" at a steady speed and play the note on the first count. Keep the sound going through all four counts, and play the next note on the next 1. It helps to say every number out loud, even though you only play on the first one. Singers and wind players should breathe near the end of the held note only if the music allows it, and should not let the sound fade early.

Whole note, semibreve and other names

In the United Kingdom and many other countries the whole note is called a semibreve. The name comes from older notation, in which a "breve" was an even longer note, equal to two whole notes. You may still see a breve in older choral music, shown as a square or an oval between two vertical lines. Today the whole note is the longest value in most pieces.

How the whole note relates to other notes

Every other note value divides the whole note evenly. Two half notes equal one whole note. Four quarter notes equal one. Eight eighth notes and sixteen sixteenth notes equal one as well. This is why a measure of 4/4 can be filled in many ways: one whole note, or two halves, or a half and two quarters, or any other mix that adds up to four beats.

Two whole notes in a row on the same pitch can be joined with a curved line called a tie. A tie adds the values together, so two tied whole notes last 8 beats. Composers use this to write sounds longer than a single measure.

Stems, or the lack of them

Most notes below the middle line of the staff have stems that go up on the right side of the notehead, and notes above the middle line have stems that go down on the left. A whole note has no stem at all, so you do not have to worry about this rule. The pitch is shown only by the position of the oval.

The whole note and the whole rest

The whole note has a matching silent symbol, the whole rest. In 4/4 it also lasts 4 beats. A whole rest looks like a small filled rectangle hanging from the fourth line of the staff. The whole rest has a special extra job: it can mean a full measure of silence in any time signature. A whole note, by contrast, always means four quarter-note beats.

Common mistakes

• Confusing the whole note with the half note. Look for the stem: no stem means whole note.
• Counting only to 3 or stopping the sound early. Hold the note for all four beats.
• Thinking a whole note always lasts a full measure. That is true only when the measure holds four quarter-note beats, as in 4/4.

Once whole notes feel natural, move on to the half note and then to the overview of all note values.

Check yourself

Related pages

• Note values: how long each note lasts
• Half note: symbol, beats and how to count it
• Quarter note: symbol, beats and counting
• Whole rest: symbol and how long it lasts
• Time signatures explained
• 4/4 time signature
• Cut time (2/2)