Rhythm & Meter

Sixteenth Note

Definition

A sixteenth note has a filled notehead, a stem and two flags, or two beams when grouped. Four sixteenth notes fill one quarter-note beat, counted 1 e & a.

A sixteenth note lasts half as long as an eighth note and a quarter as long as a quarter note. On its own it has two flags; in groups its stems are joined by two beams. In British English it is called a semiquaver.

Counting sixteenth notes

In 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4, four sixteenth notes fill one beat. The most common way to count them is "1 e & a, 2 e & a", said "one-ee-and-uh". The number falls on the beat, "&" halfway through it, and "e" and "a" in between. Saying all four syllables evenly is the secret to playing sixteenths evenly.

A treble-clef line in 4/4, two bars. Bar 1: four beamed sixteenth notes C5 D5 E5 F5, a quarter note G5, an eighth note A5 beamed with sixteenths G5 F5, and sixteenths E5 D5 beamed with an eighth C5, counted 1 e & a, 2, 3 & a, 4 e &. Bar 2: a dotted eighth D5 and sixteenth E5, a dotted eighth F5 and sixteenth D5, then a half note C5, counted 1 a 2 a 3. — Bar 1: four sixteenths (1 e & a), a quarter note (2), an eighth and two sixteenths (3 & a), then two sixteenths and an eighth (4 e &). Bar 2: two dotted-eighth-and-sixteenth pairs (1 a, 2 a) and a half note.

Common sixteenth-note patterns

Sixteenths are often mixed with eighth notes inside a single beat. You will meet these shapes again and again:

Four sixteenths: 1 e & a.
Eighth + two sixteenths: 1 & a (long-short-short).
Two sixteenths + eighth: 1 e & (short-short-long).
Dotted eighth + sixteenth: 1 a (long-short, a skipping rhythm).
Sixteenth + dotted eighth: 1 e (short-long, sometimes called a Scotch snap).

Within each beat, the stems share an eighth-note beam, with a second beam added for the sixteenths. A short stub of a beam marks a single sixteenth next to a longer note.

Practicing sixteenths

Set a metronome slow enough that you can say "1 e & a" comfortably, and play one note per syllable. Then leave some syllables silent to form the patterns above, while you keep saying all four in your head; that is subdivision at work.

Work through The Sixteenth Note and The Dotted Eighth + Sixteenth, then write the counts yourself in Write the Counts 2.

Common questions

How do you count sixteenth notes?

Say "1 e & a, 2 e & a" (one-ee-and-uh), one syllable per sixteenth note. The beat number falls on the first sixteenth of each beat, and "&" on the third.

How many sixteenth notes are in a quarter note?

Four. Two sixteenth notes make an eighth note, and two eighth notes make a quarter note.