Round (figure)

Figure 1. Pentagram with a round note and a round silence.

The round is a musical figure that has a duration of four quarter note pulses in current musical notation. The historical origin of the round is the semibrevis or semibreve of the mensural notation.

Graphic representation

Whole notes are represented with a hollow oval notehead (like the half note), but without a vertical bar or stem (see Figure 1).

The round silence is its equivalent silence. The round, like all musical figures, has a silence of the same value and assumes that during that time no sound is emitted. This sign is represented by a dash or horizontal bar that is below the fourth line of the staff.

Duration and equivalences

In a binary subdivision bar (2
4 ; 3
4; 4
4; etc.) the whole note equals four beats. So, in a bar of 4
4 this figure lasts for a full bar. The references of the times in music are usually determined with respect to the duration of the quarter note. Thus, if in a composition the quarter note lasts one second (60 quarter notes per minute), then the duration of the whole note is 4 seconds.

The whole figure is equal to 2 half notes, 4 quarter notes, 8 eighth notes, 16 sixteenth notes, 32 thirty-second notes, or 64 sixteenth notes. Above the whole note there are some figures of longer duration but they have fallen out of use in current musical notation. They are: the square, which is equivalent to eight quarter notes, the longa, which is equivalent to 16 quarter notes, and the duplex longa, which is equivalent to 32 quarter notes. Below the semifusa there are also other figures of shorter duration that are not used today either. They are: the scribble, which is equivalent to 1/128 of a whole note, and the semi-scribble, which is equivalent to 1/256 of a whole note, that is, 1/64 quarter note pulses.

In Unicode the symbol for round is U+1D15D.

Historical evolution and uses

In the unmetered preludes of the French tradition of the 17th century, all sounds were represented by whole notes regardless of their duration. It will be the interpreter who determines these durations depending on the character of the piece, which determined that this was improvised music.

This figure is often used in orchestration for harmonic pedals.

The whole note and the whole note rest can also be used in free-paced music, such as Anglican chant, to be applied over a full bar, regardless of the length of that bar. The round rest can be used in this way in almost all or all forms of music.

Etymology

The names given to this figure and its silence in different languages vary enormously:

The French and Spanish names for this figure of music (both meaning "round") derive from the fact that the semibreve was distinguished by its round shape without stems, which still holds in the modern form (in contrast to the square or shorter values that carry stems). The Greek name means "whole."

The round is derived from the semibreve of the mensural notation and this is the origin of the name used in the United Kingdom and Canada semibreve. In the United States, the term whole note was chosen, which is a semantic carbon copy of the German ganze Note. This is because when American orchestras were first established in the 19th century they were largely populated by German emigrants. Michael Miller wrote,

«[T]he most basic note is called the whole note because... it lasts a whole measure...».
(The most basic note is called an entire note because... it lasts an entire compass...).