The smallest note you will have come across in your music theory exams so far is the semiquaver. Remember that 4 semiquavers are worth 1 crotchet.
A semiquaver has two little tails on the stem, which are always on the right hand side.
The demisemiquaver is worth half a semiquaver. You need 8 demisemiquavers to make up the value of 1 crotchet. A demisemiquaver has three little tails:
Demisemiquavers are usually grouped and beamed in fours:
But because we need eight of them to equal one crotchet, we often put two groups of four together:
To make it easier to see the division of beats, many people prefer to use one long beam at the top, to join all the notes, and then two shorter beams on each group of four:
One semibreve is worth 32 demisemiquavers. One minim is worth 16. One crotchet is worth 8. One quaver is worth 4. One semiquaver is worth 2 demisemiquavers.
The demisemiquaver rest looks like this:
It has three tails, and each tail sits within a space on the stave.
Demisemiquavers (32nds) Exercises
Hover your mouse over the questions (tap on mobiles) to reveal the answers.
How many demisemiquavers are worth the same as
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How many 32nd notes are worth the same as
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