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• half note
  half note

  noun

  a note equivalent in time value to one half of a whole note; minim.
• half-note
  half-note

  noun

  a note having the time value of half a semibreve

half note

American  

noun

Music.

1. a note equivalent in time value to one half of a whole note; minim.

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half-note British  

noun

1. Also called: minim.  a note having the time value of half a semibreve

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Etymology

Origin of half note

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

half note half-note

Curly’s voice cracked which he’d try to cover up by sliding up or down a half note.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2022

The episode ends ludicrously: as Brownshirts riot around Innitzer's palace, Soprano Wilma Lipp and 200 members of the Wiener Jeunesse Choir huddle primly in the plaza, singing Mozart's Alleluia without skipping a half note.

From Time Magazine Archive

The tied quarters here would sound exactly like a half note crossing the bar line.

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

A note that lasts half as long as a whole note is a half note.

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

So a dotted half note, for example, would last as long as a half note plus a quarter note, or three quarters of a whole note.

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

Mr. Dunlop arrived at the brown-brick nursing home nearly four years ago, a strong-willed but slightly bent half-note.

From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2011

But the soprano who starts a half-note too high will shatter glass and her hopes of auditioning for the Met by the time she gets to the "land of the free."

From Time Magazine Archive

Also, a rhythmic figure, as at c, where a half-note occupies the second and third quarters, may be used.

From A Treatise on Simple Counterpoint in Forty Lessons by Lehmann, Friedrich Johann

It may safely be said however that the sign always indicates that a half-note has a beat. may occasionally be found indicating four-half measure but this is rare.

From Music Notation and Terminology by Gehrkens, Karl Wilson

There was a half-note of proprietorship in his voice.

From Dan Merrithew by McFall, J. V.