MusicXML 4.1 Draft
MusicXML 4.1 Draft > MusicXML Reference > Data Types > The notehead-value data type

The notehead-value data type

The notehead-value type indicates shapes other than the open and closed ovals associated with note durations.

The values do, re, mi, fa, fa up, so, la, and ti correspond to Aikin’s 7-shape system. The fa up shape is typically used with upstems; the fa shape is typically used with downstems or no stems.

The arrow shapes differ from triangle and inverted triangle by being centered on the stem. Slashed and back slashed notes include both the normal notehead and a slash. The triangle shape has the tip of the triangle pointing up; the inverted triangle shape has the tip of the triangle pointing down. The left triangle shape is a right triangle with the hypotenuse facing up and to the left.

The other notehead covers noteheads other than those listed here. It is usually used in combination with the smufl attribute to specify a particular SMuFL notehead. The smufl attribute may be used with any notehead value to help specify the appearance of symbols that share the same MusicXML semantics. Noteheads in the SMuFL Note name noteheads and Note name noteheads supplement ranges (U+E150–U+E1AF and U+EEE0–U+EEFF) should not use the smufl attribute or the “other” value, but instead use the notehead-text element.

Allowed values

Base type: xs:string

slash notehead-value: slash
triangle notehead-value: triangle
diamond notehead-value: diamond
square notehead-value: square
cross notehead-value: cross
x notehead-value: x
circle-x notehead-value: circle-x
inverted triangle notehead-value: inverted triangle
arrow down notehead-value: arrow down
arrow up notehead-value: arrow up
circled notehead-value: circled
slashed notehead-value: slashed
back slashed notehead-value: back slashed
normal notehead-value: normal
cluster notehead-value: cluster
circle dot notehead-value: circle dot
left triangle notehead-value: left triangle
rectangle notehead-value: rectangle
none notehead-value: none
do notehead-value: do As in Aikin’s 7-shape system.
re notehead-value: re As in Aikin’s 7-shape system.
mi notehead-value: mi As in Aikin’s 7-shape system.
fa notehead-value: fa As in Aikin’s 7-shape system, typically used with downstems or no stems.
fa up notehead-value: fa up As in Aikin’s 7-shape system, typically used with upstems.
so notehead-value: so As in Aikin’s 7-shape system.
la notehead-value: la As in Aikin’s 7-shape system.
ti notehead-value: ti As in Aikin’s 7-shape system.
other Noteheads other than those listed here. This value is usually used in combination with the smufl attribute to specify a particular SMuFL notehead. The smufl attribute may also be used with any notehead value to help specify the appearance of symbols that share the same MusicXML semantics. Noteheads in the SMuFL Note name noteheads and Note name noteheads supplement ranges (U+E150–U+E1AF and U+EEE0–U+EEFF) should not use the smufl attribute or the other value, but instead use the <notehead-text> element.

Where is this type used?

<notehead>