Editing Quarter note

{{Short description|Musical note duration}}
{{Redirect-distinguish2|Crotchet|[[Crochet]], the needlework technique}}
{{redirect|♩|the general description of the symbol|Musical note}}
[[Image:Quarter notes and rest.svg|thumb|right|300px|A quarter note (crotchet) with stem pointing up, a quarter note with stem pointing down, and a quarter rest]]
[[Image:Quarter note run.png|thumb|right|300px|Four quarter notes]]
{{Duple note values|300px}}
{{Duple note values audio}}
A '''quarter note''' ([[American English|AmE]]) or '''crotchet''' ([[British English|BrE]]) ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|r|ɒ|t|ʃ|ɪ|t}}) is a [[note (music)|musical note]] played for one quarter of the duration of a [[whole note]] (or semibreve). Quarter notes are notated with a filled-in oval [[note head]] and a straight, flagless [[stem (music)|stem]]. The stem usually points upwards if it is below the middle line of the [[musical staff|staff]], and downwards if it is on or above the middle line. An upward stem is placed on the right side of the notehead, a downward stem is placed on the left (see image). The [[Unicode]] symbol is U+2669 (<span style="font-size:140%;">♩</span>).

A '''quarter [[rest (music)|rest]]''' (or '''crotchet rest''') denotes a silence of the same duration as a quarter note or crotchet. It is notated with the symbol [[File:crotchet rest alt plain-svg.svg|x20px]]. In some older music it was notated with symbol [[File:crotchet rest plain-svg.svg|x14px]].{{efn|Examples of the older symbol are found in English music up to the late 19th century, e.g. W. A. Mozart ''Requiem Mass'', vocal score ed. W. T. Best, pub. London: Novello & Co. Ltd. 1879.}}<ref>''Rudiments and Theory of Music'' Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, London 1958.  I,33 and III,25.  The former section shows both forms without distinction, the latter the "old" form only.  The book was the Official ABRSM theory manual in the UK up until at least 1975. The "old" form was taught as a manuscript variant of the printed form.</ref>

==History==

The quarter note equates to the {{lang|la|semiminima}} ('half minim') of [[mensural notation]]. The word "crotchet" comes from [[Old French]] {{lang|fro|crochet}}, meaning 'little hook', diminutive of {{wikt-lang|fro|croc}}, 'hook', because of the hook used on the note in [[mensural notation|black notation]] of the medieval period.

As the name implies, a quarter note's duration is one quarter that of a whole note, half the length of a half note, and twice that of an eighth note. It represents one beat in a bar of {{music|time|4|4}} time. The term "quarter note" is a [[calque]] (loan-translation) of the German term {{lang|de|Viertelnote}}. 

In the [[Romance languages]] of Catalan, French, Galician, and Spanish, the name of this note and its equivalent rest is derived from the [[Latin language|Latin]] {{lang|la|negra}} meaning 'black'—as the {{lang|la|semiminima}} was the longest note to be colored in [[mensural notation|mensural white notation]]. This is still true of the note's modern form. The Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Serbian and Slovak names mean "quarter" (for the note) and "quarter's pause" (for the rest).

== See also ==
* [[List of musical symbols]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Musical note values}}

[[Category:Note values]]