Share this page...
notes and rests

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.

semiquavers

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 (32nd notes)

Demisemiquavers are usually grouped and beamed in fours:

demisemiquavers beamed in fours

But because we need eight of them to equal one crotchet, we often put two groups of four together:

demisemiquavers beamed in eights

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:

demisemiquavers beamed with principal beam

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:

demisemiquaver (32nd) rest

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

  • two semibreves?
  • one minim?
  • one crotchet ?
  • three quavers?

How many 32nd notes are worth the same as

  • two whole notes?
  • one half note?
  • one quarter note?
  • three eighth notes?