To solve this problem, let’s begin by understanding the structure of musical notes and how their durations sum up.
1. Whole Note: A whole note represents the longest standard duration in a piece of music, and it is symbolized by an open note-head without a stem. A whole note receives 4 beats.
2. Half Note: A half note is equivalent to half the duration of a whole note, and it is symbolized by an open note-head with a stem. Each half note receives 2 beats. Therefore, 2 half notes sum to 1 whole note (4 beats).
3. Quarter Note: A quarter note is half the duration of a half note. It is symbolized by a filled note-head with a stem. Each quarter note receives 1 beat. Thus, 4 quarter notes will sum to 1 whole note (4 beats).
4. Eighth Note: An eighth note is half the duration of a quarter note and is symbolized similarly to a quarter note with an additional flag or beam. Each eighth note receives 0.5 beats. Hence, 8 eighth notes add up to 1 whole note (4 beats).
Given this understanding, when we sum the durations from left to right on any level of a note tree, we are essentially adding fractional components of a whole note.
- Summing 2 half notes (each 2 beats) results in a whole note (4 beats).
- Summing 4 quarter notes (each 1 beat) also results in 4 beats, equating to a whole note.
- Summing 8 eighth notes (each 0.5 beats) similarly results in 4 beats, equating to 1 whole note.
Therefore, when durations are summed correctly at any level, they always complete the value of a whole note. Thus, the correct answer is:
A whole note.
