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Somebody asked me today, “How many beats is a whole note in 2/4 worth?”

I must admit that I stumbled for a moment before remembering: You shouldn’t encounter a whole note in 2/4 time, since the length of the note would be exceeding that of the measure. Instead you’ll see this written as two half notes tied together.

If by some chance you did encounter a whole note in 2/4, then it would be worth 4 beats. (Unless you can tell that the engraver was confused and thought that a whole note simply takes up a “whole” measure, in which case hold it for 2 beats.)

Great ice breaker for musician acquaintances!

Originally posted at http://sightreadingmastery.com/blog/how-many-beats-is-a-whole-note-in-24-worth, thought some here would enjoy.

I'd say you can play it however you want, because the composer or somebody didn't know math and so the note values don't mean anything.

Its like dividing by zero.

....or maybe one of these:

Obviously it cannot be a whole note... Maybe it is a misprint? (Or the composer's math is really bad, but I cannot imagine anyone who writes music not understanding basic concepts like that, so it is probably a misprint... )

I think Beethoven has a thing or two that doesn't add up!

(Like, some of that weird stuff in Op. 110.)

WHereas you CAN (and often do) see a whole REST in something other than common time, seeing a whole NOTE in 2/4 time would make my bassoonist spit her double reed across the ensemble...

It means somebody needs to proofread before publishing!! Lol.

Maybe the composer is a half-wit.

A good lawyer could get the number of beats you're looking for ... though it would cost.

In some of Rachmaninoff's later works, when he temporarily changes the time signature, he doesn't bother writing it in, he just adds more beats to the bar and expects you to understand what's going on. Particularly in Op. 38 and 39 this happens. Perhaps it is a case of that?

I looked at the scores, and you're right, he does things like that.

I think Alkan does that at some points, too

I hope people realize we're not talking about an actual piece. The original post is simply an idle musing from a blog selling a sight-reading service. There is no answer. (Nor is there really any philosophical point to be made about the practice of engraving.)

To put it cynically. I don't know if we're talking about an actual piece of music because the person who asked me didn't say. (They contacted me through the live chat on my website and left before answering that question, so who knows if they were asking in earnest or trolling or what.)

The interesting point to me is mahermusic's about the difference between whole note and whole rest lengths; it's likely to trip up beginners that they don't work the same way.

Cool!
How many people knew that.....I sure never did.

It wouldn't work, too little beats in the measure. Unless its at the end then it doesn't really matter that much I guess. Supposed if you did see it, would it be connected by a tie into the next bar?

this reminds me of that story about a famous pianist being asked by this lady from the audience after the concert if he would be so kind as to play a 16th note for her.

Of course it still matters. It would have to be to half-notes tied over two measures.

Yes, that is what Sibelius (the notation program) automatically does for example (but of course it should be pretty obvious).

Amen