Beaming & Grouped Notes
Same notes, same rhythm — but a beam across the top instantly shows you where each beat lives.
Flags vs. beams
An eighth note gets one flag on its stem; a sixteenth gets two. But when several of them appear in a row, notation almost always connects their stems with a thick horizontal beam instead — one beam per flag it replaces. The notes and rhythm don't change at all; only the visual grouping does.
Beams reveal the beat
Beam groups are drawn to match the beat, so you can tell where beat 1, 2, 3, and 4 fall just by glancing at where the beams break — no counting flags required. That's the entire point: beaming turns a page of rhythm into something you can read at a glance instead of decode note by note.
Common questions
What is a beam in music notation?
A thick bar connecting stems of eighth notes or shorter, replacing individual flags.
Why beam notes instead of using flags?
Beams show the beat grouping visually, which is much faster to sight-read than counting flags.
How many beams does a sixteenth note get?
Two beams — matching the two flags it would otherwise have unbeamed.
Do beamed notes always fill a whole beat?
By convention, yes — beams usually group to the beat, which is why they're so readable.
Read rhythms at a glance, faster
Melody Monkey highlights the beat live as your rhythm plays — free to try.
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