What does demisemiquaver mean?
A demisemiquaver is a note of very short duration in musical notation, equal in value to one thirty-second of a whole note — half the length of a semiquaver and one-eighth that of a quaver. In American terminology it is called a thirty-second note. The term is built transparently from Latin-derived elements: 'demi-' (half) applied to 'semiquaver', which itself contains 'semi-' (half), yielding literally 'half of a half of a quaver'. Demisemiquavers appear most often in fast, virtuosic writing — ornamental runs, flourishes, and rapid passagework in keyboard and string repertoire — where they demand considerable technical agility from the performer. The word belongs primarily to British English and is used mainly by musicians, teachers, and writers on music; everyday speakers are more likely to encounter it than use it. Its layered prefixes make it a memorable example of how English musical vocabulary encodes rhythmic relationships directly in its morphology, alongside related terms such as hemidemisemiquaver for a sixty-fourth note.
nounA musical note having the time value of one thirty-second of a whole note; a thirty-second note.
- A musical note lasting half as long as a semiquaver and one eighth as long as a quaver; equivalent to a thirty-second note.
"The violinist executed the passage's rapid demisemiquavers with astonishing precision."
"The cadenza opens with a shimmering run of demisemiquavers that seems to hover above the orchestra."
"Beethoven marks the figuration in demisemiquavers, demanding a breathless velocity from the pianist's right hand."
Regular plural; commonly used when referring to runs or groups of such notes.
"The finale demands flawless articulation through long strings of demisemiquavers."
Demisemiquaver packs three prefixes into one word just to tell you to play a note twice as fast as you probably can.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of demisemiquaver
Demisemiquaver derives from French 'demi-', meaning half, combined with 'semiquaver', itself formed from Latin 'semi-' (half) plus 'quaver'. Quaver entered English in the fifteenth century meaning to tremble, and was applied to the eighth-note symbol because of its wavy flag. The compound arose in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century English musical treatises as notation demanded names for ever-shorter note values, with 'hemidemisemiquaver' (sixty-fourth note) extending the same pattern even further.
How demisemiquaver is actually used
The term belongs chiefly to British musical terminology; American musicians typically say 'thirty-second note' instead. It appears almost exclusively in written or formal discussions of music notation and performance.
Easily confused with demisemiquaver
A semiquaver is a sixteenth note, twice as long as a demisemiquaver, which is a thirty-second note.
A hemidemisemiquaver is a sixty-fourth note, half the duration of a demisemiquaver.