eighth note

noun

: a musical note with the time value of ¹/₈ of a whole note see note illustration

Examples of eighth note in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Mean Girls’ title graphic features a tiny eighth note inside the a as the lone hint at the remake’s Broadway origins. Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 27 Nov. 2024 For the coda, Shostakovich and Mravinsky apparently settled on a metronome marking of eighth note = 184 or 188. Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2024 For Armstrong, each eighth note did not need to have the same weight or duration on every occasion that an eighth note appeared. Popular Science, 30 May 2020 The drummer starts pounding the tom-toms, and the bass and rhythm guitar pound out eighth notes. Noah Shachtman, Rolling Stone, 18 Mar. 2023 There is, however, an eighth note – do. Rabbi Avi Weiss, sun-sentinel.com, 5 Apr. 2021 So the first iteration of the chord progression takes about three minutes, then each variation after that gets shorter and shorter until each chord becomes only an eighth note long. oregonlive, 1 Feb. 2020 Rechtshaid added drums and moved the chorus over an eighth note, adding a backbeat. Chris Payne, Billboard, 28 June 2019 My eighth notes provided urgency, a racing pulse under the whole thing rather than the original’s sleepy conga. Marc Myers, WSJ, 22 Nov. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of eighth note was in 1839

Dictionary Entries Near eighth note

Cite this Entry

“Eighth note.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eighth%20note. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

eighth note

noun
: a musical note equal in time to ⅛ of a whole note
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!