Crotchet (Quarter note)

 The crotchet (or quarter note) is drawn as a solid circle on the appropriate staff line or space, with a stem either going up to the right of the circle, or going down on its left.  Its length is half that of a minim. It is the most commonly used note these days. There are 4 crotchets to a semibreve, 2 to a minim.

It is used to indicate tempo in metronome settings, such as 80 crotchets per minute, written as =80.

The actual duration of a note in seconds depends on the symbol and on the tempo indication. If the metronome is set to 60MM,  or    =60, which means 60 crotchets or quarter notes per minute, then each crotchet or quarter note will last exactly one second. This is a very slow tempo, often marked as largo. A moderate speed, such as andante, would be =120, which means each crotchet or quarter note will play for half a second.

Symbol Australian & British USA Time value in crotchets or quarter notes Description
Crotchet Quarter Note 1 This is the length used most often, and the standard for specifying metronome settings.

TheoryNoteDurationsCrotchet.htm     29/10/06 14:04        MENU -> Theory ->  Rhythms and tempo  -> Note Durations