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Whole Note Symbol 𝅝 Copy and Paste

Copy the Whole Note Symbol

Highlight and copy the whole note below:

𝅝

Paste it anywhere — documents, social media, messages, or music notation projects.

Unicode and Technical Details

Note: Many systems cannot render this Unicode character correctly. For broader compatibility, you can also use the simpler open oval symbol ○ (U+25CB) or the semibreve reference character.

What Is a Whole Note?

A whole note (called a semibreve in British English) is the longest single note value in standard Western music notation. In 4/4 time, it lasts for four beats — an entire measure. Visually, it is an open (unfilled) oval note head with no stem. It is the reference note from which all other note durations are derived.

When you see a whole note on a sheet of music, you hold the note for the full duration of the measure in common time. No other note in the same measure can coexist with a whole note (unless multiple voices are notated on the same staff).

Whole Note Duration Chart

Each level divides the previous value by two. This binary subdivision is the foundation of Western rhythmic notation.

History of the Whole Note

Medieval Origins

The whole note has the oldest lineage of any modern note value. In medieval music, it was called the semibreve — from Latin "semi" (half) and "breve." Originally, the breve was the standard note, and the semibreve was literally half a breve. Over centuries, as music slowed down and note values expanded, the semibreve became the longest standard note, and the breve (double whole note) became rare.

The Open Note Head

The open (hollow) oval shape distinguishes the whole note from shorter note values. In medieval manuscripts, note heads were all open. The filled-in (black) note head was introduced later to indicate faster note values — quarter notes and shorter. The half note retained the open head but added a stem. The whole note kept just the open head with no stem, making it visually the simplest note on the page.

Whole Rest

The whole rest (a small rectangle hanging from the fourth line of the staff) represents four beats of silence — the exact same duration as a whole note, but unplayed. In older music notation, the whole rest was sometimes used to indicate a full measure of silence regardless of the time signature, a convention that persists in some modern scores.

How to Type the Whole Note Symbol

Windows

Mac

iPhone and Android

The whole note symbol is not available on standard mobile keyboards and may not render on all devices. Copy it from above or use the open circle ○ as a substitute.

Whole Notes in Different Time Signatures

Fun Facts About Whole Notes

Related Symbols

Explore more music notation symbols in our guides for Quarter Note ♩, Eighth Note ♪, Treble Clef 𝄞, and Music Note Symbols.