Sixteenth note

A filled oval with two flags or two beams, a quarter of a beat.

Also known as: Semiquaver, Note with two flags

MusicalEveryday & digitalStandard profile

Meanings

Two flags halve an eighth note again. The system continues indefinitely — each additional flag or beam halves the duration — so counting flags is the whole skill.

Common modern usageVerified fact
Indicates a note lasting a quarter of a beat in common time.
Contexts: Music
Common modern usageVerified fact
Belongs to an open-ended series: three flags give a thirty-second note, four a sixty-fourth, and the rule never changes.
Contexts: Music

Visual description

A solid filled oval with a vertical stem carrying two curved flags stacked down its side, or joined to its neighbours by two parallel beams.

Symmetry: none
Orientation: upright

Part of the same system as: Eighth note
Adjacent values in the halving series.

Confidence

IdentityModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Visual matchModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.

Sources

Note value
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for what a mark instructs a performer to do and for uncontested history, never for a claim that any body defines staff notation.

Last reviewed 2026-07-31

Part of

Staff notation — reading a score

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Meanings

Two flags halve an eighth note again. The system continues indefinitely — each additional flag or beam halves the duration — so counting flags is the whole skill.

Common modern usageVerified fact

Indicates a note lasting a quarter of a beat in common time.

Contexts: Music

Common modern usageVerified fact

Belongs to an open-ended series: three flags give a thirty-second note, four a sixty-fourth, and the rule never changes.

Contexts: Music

Confidence

IdentityModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Visual matchModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.

Meanings

Visual description

Related & commonly confused symbols

Meanings

Visual description

Related & commonly confused symbols