12.3 · Dividing the Beat
Sixteenth notes
You split the beat into two eighths at the '&'. Split each half again and you get sixteenth notes: four to a beat, counted 1 e & a. Two flags on the stem instead of one. This is the smallest division most music ever needs.
One beat, three ways
The same four clicks under each bar. One note per beat, then two, then four. Feel the surface get busier while the pulse never moves.
Count it: 1 e & a
The '&' keeps its name; the two new landings are 'e' and 'a'. A mixed bar reads exactly like it sounds: say the counting line, then hear it.
You've already used them
The drum sequencer's sixteen cells per bar? Each cell is one sixteenth note. Every groove you've programmed on that grid was sixteenth-note resolution all along. Now the grid and the notation are the same picture.
Quiz
1 / 3How many sixteenth notes fill one beat?