A half note is a hollow note head with a stem, and it lasts two beats in common time, half a whole note.
Hollow head means long; a stem halves it. That is the whole system: each added feature halves the value, from whole note to half to quarter to eighth.
How to spot it
An empty oval with a straight line coming off it. Compare it with a quarter note, which is the same shape filled in.
Find it in thirty seconds
Find a half note and a quarter note in the same piece and play them one after the other, counting "one-two" then "one". The difference should be obvious in your hand, not just on the page.
Open any piece of sheet music on this site and do it now. Reading is a recognition skill, and recognition is built by finding things, not by reading about them.
Related Topics...
How to Read Sheet Music: Learn how to read sheet music using interactive lessons from Chordzy. Or browse our various reading music topics.
Music Notation Glossary: Every symbol on a page of piano music, explained in one sentence each, clefs, note values, rests, accidentals, dynamics and repeat marks.
Dotted Note: Dotted Note in piano music. A dot after a note head adds half of that note's value again. A dotted half note lasts three beats; a dotted quarter lasts one and…
Half Rest: Half Rest in piano music. A half rest is a small filled rectangle sitting on top of the middle line of the staff. It means two beats of silence in common time.
Quarter Note: A quarter note on the piano staff: how to spot the filled head, and a thirty-second hunt for one on a real page.
Whole Note: Whole Note in piano music. A whole note is a hollow note head with no stem, and it lasts four beats in common time, a full measure of 4/4.
More in This Section
Key Signature: Key Signature in piano music. The key signature is the group of sharps or flats just after the clef. It applies to every note of those letter names, in every o…
