Sixteenth Notes
This is a sixteenth note.
It lasts for one quarter of a beat.
There are four sixteenth notes in one beat.
There are 16 sixteenth notes in one bar of * time.
Here is a melody featuring the use of sixteenth notes. Take it slowly at first and count as you play. Tap your foot on each beat and remember that there are four sixteenth notes per beat.
When sixteenth notes are played in conjunction with eighth notes the following timing combinations occur. An easy way to remember these combinations is that they have the same timing as saying the words chucka-boom and boom-chucka.
Here is Arkansas Traveler again.
This time it is written in eighth and sixteenth notes.
There is often more than one way of writing a rhythm. The next two examples contain similar rhythms, but the first one uses eighth notes while the second uses sixteenth notes. The main difference is where the beats occur.
