Eighth Notes

We have established that four quarter note values divide a measure of common time into four equal parts. We can further divide a measure of common time. Beginning with a quarter note value, we can divide the time it demands into two halves, arriving at our next type of note value: the eighth note value. This relationship between eighth note values and quarter note values is very important, and will govern how we can combine them in a measure of common time.

With this relationship, we can see that it will take eight eighth note values to fill a measure of common time. Since two eighth note values require the same amount of time as one quarter note value, we can devise a way to count eighth note values in a similar fashion.