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eighth note

American  

noun

Music.
  1. a note having one eighth of the time value of a whole note; quaver.


eighth note British  

noun

  1. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): quavermusic a note having the time value of an eighth of a semibreve

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of eighth note

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

When orchestra rehearsals started Feb. 14, Nézet-Séguin shortened a 16th note here, lengthened an eighth note there as he sang the vocals — including the Celestial Voice ending the auto-da-fé.

From Seattle Times Feb. 28, 2022

“That time feel, in between a triplet and an eighth note, you can’t really notate it and you can’t really teach it,” he says.

From Washington Post Jan. 6, 2017

A dotted quarter note, for example, would be the length of a quarter plus an eighth, because an eighth note is half the length of a quarter note.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

For example, the first dot after a half note adds a quarter note length; the second dot would add an eighth note length.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

You may have noticed that some of the eighth notes in Figure 1.39 don't have flags; instead they have a beam connecting them to another eighth note.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

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