Glossary: Note | Sweetwater.com

Expert Center > Glossary > Note

«Back to Glossary Menu

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 0-9

Note

A tone of definite pitch. In written music, a note is a sign that represents a single sound of a given music pitch and the duration that the pitch should be played or sung. The pitch of a Note is defined by its position on a musical staff combined with the given key signature while the duration of a note is defined by a set of written note values, or symbols. The most familiar note values are as follows:

Whole Note: Equals four Quarter Notes.
Half Note: Equals one-half of a Whole Note or two Quarter Notes.
Quarter Note: Equals one-fourth (or one-quarter) of a Whole Note.
Eight Note: Equals one-eighth of a Whole Note or one-half of a Quarter Note.
Sixteenth Note: Equals one-sixteenth of a Whole Note.

Outside of written music, a note is a bit harder to fully grasp in exact terms. Why? Consider the pitch of a note. The same note with a predetermined pitch, say A/440 (440 Hz), played or performed by different instruments is going to sound very different. Why? While the pitch of the note is defined in physics by the frequency of vibrations of the sound, there are sometimes other supporting factors such as Timbre or the harmonic structure of the instrument. Similarly, while a note in written music is also defined by its duration, not all instruments perform attacks and decays the same. This creates individual character that can further define a note in a given scenario. So, while a Note in written music is easily definable, a Note in the 'real world' is alive and organic.

NAB

Nail Violin

NAMM

Nanoweber

Narrow Aperture

NAS

Nashville Number System

Nashville Tune-o-matic

Nashville Tuning

Native

Nato

Natural

NC Curve-Contour

Near-Coincident Pair

Near Field

Near Field Monitor

Neck

Neck Block (Head Block)

Neck Pitch

Neckplate

Neck Relief

Neck Tenon

Neck Through Body

Needle Drop

Negative Feedback

Neo Classic Fingerboard

Neo Classic Fingerboard

Neodymium

Nested RAID

Network

Network Attached Storage

Neutral

New Old Stock (NOS)

Nickel

NiMH

NiNja Bearing

Ninth Chord

Nitro

Nitrocellulose

Nitrocellulose Lacquer

NLE

Nocaster

Nocaster

Nocturne

Node

Noise

Noise Floor

Noise Gate

Noise Generator

Noise Shaping

NOM

Nominal

Nominal Level

Non-destructive Editing

Non-destructive Recording

Non-Drop

Non-Linear Editing

Non-normalled

Non-reactive Load

Non-Volatile Memory

Normal

Normalize

NOS

Notation

Notation Software

Notch

Note

Note Number

Note Off

Note On

NRC

NRPN

NTFS

NTSC

Nudge

Null

Nut

Nut Slot

Nylon Tip

Nyquist Frequency

Our Customers Say...