A hemidemisemiquaver is a musical note valued at 1/64th of a whole note, representing the fastest commonly played notes and humorously used to mean a very short time.
A hemidemisemiquaver is a musical note with the time value of 1/64 of a whole note. It is the fastest commonly played musical note and is humorously used in the US for a brief moment.
| Word | hemidemisemiquaver |
|---|---|
| Date | May 29, 2007 |
| Type | noun |
| Syllables | hem-ih-dem-ih-SEM-ih-kway-ver |
| Etymology | Hemidemisemiquavers are the fastest musical notes that are commonly played, and performing them well can stretch human technique to its limit. The term is mainly used in Britain, where eighth notes are called "quavers," sixteenth notes are called "semiquavers," and thirty-second notes are called "demisemiquavers." In the United States, "hemidemisemiquaver" is likely to be used humorously, occurring especially as a clever substitute for "moment" or "bit," as in "the concert ended not a hemidemisemiquaver too soon." |
| Examples | The pianist's fingers became a blur flying over the keys as she played the difficult hemidemisemiquavers of the allegro movement. |
| Definition | : a musical note with the time value of 1/64 of a whole note : sixty-fourth note |
Tags: wordoftheday::noun
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