Editing Whole note (section)

== Description ==
The '''whole note''' or '''semibreve''' has a [[note head]] in the shape of a hollow oval—like a [[half note]] (or ''minim'')—but with no [[note stem]] (see Figure 1). Since it is equal to four quarter notes, it occupies the entire length of a [[bar_(music)|measure]] in {{music|time|4|4}} [[time signature|time]].

Other notes are multiples or fractions of the whole note. For example, a [[double whole note]] (or ''breve'') lasts twice the duration of the whole note, a half note lasts one half the duration, and a [[quarter note]] (or ''crotchet'') lasts one quarter the duration.

A related symbol is the '''whole [[rest (music)|rest]]''' (or '''semibreve rest'''), which signifies a rest for the duration of a whole note. Whole rests are drawn as filled-in rectangles generally hanging under the second line from the top of a [[musical staff]], though they may occasionally be put under a different line (or [[ledger line]]) in more complicated [[polyphonic]] passages, or when two instruments or vocalists are written on one staff.

The whole note may also be used to denote a whole measure in music of free rhythm, such as [[Anglican chant]], irrespective of the time of the measure.