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Hoots : Anything more than a maxima note (8 whole notes) The maxima lasts 8 whole notes. Is there any note that lasts longer? - freshhoot.com

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Anything more than a maxima note (8 whole notes)
The maxima lasts 8 whole notes. Is there any note that lasts longer?


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First, the maxima is extinct and hasn't been part of standard music notation for close to five hundred years.

Second, if you go back to the time that the maxima actually was used, you encounter a completely different system of rhythmic notation. Your "whole note" was then referred to as a semibreve, and there could be 2 or 3 semibreves contained in one breve (the name still frequently used for what is today also called a "double whole note," though centuries ago, it could also be a triple whole note in duration), depending on what was called the tempus of the meter.

Breves were then formed into a longa, where again a longa could be divided into 2 or 3 breves, depending on the modus of the meter. And then, the longae were combined into a maxima, where again there could be 2 or 3 longae (at least in the 13th and 14th centuries), depending on the maximodus of the meter.

Thus, a maxima could be equal to 8 semibreves (sort of like "whole notes") or equal to 12 semibreves or equal to 18 semibreves or equal to 27 semibreves, depending on the particular piece.

Hence, when the maxima was actually in use, it could represent a duration up to 27 semibreves (or "whole notes," I suppose, in modern parlance).

But that rhythmic system died out around the year 1600. There's no standard time signature used today in which it even makes sense to use a maxima. The longest standard note in modern notation is the dotted breve (or dotted "double whole note").

As to whether there is "any note that lasts longer"? Sure. Tie a bunch of whole notes together for a chain as long as you want. I've seen scores that have notes that last at least 30 or 40 bars all on one note tied together. Of course, few instruments can actually do a continuous pitch that long, so most of the time you need to breathe/change bowing/whatever as needed.


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