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

arrow down arrow down
arrow up arrow up
back slashed back slashed
circle dot circle dot
circle-x circle-x
circled circled
cluster cluster
cross cross
diamond diamond
do do
fa fa
fa up fa up
inverted triangle inverted triangle
la la
left triangle left triangle
mi mi
none none
normal normal
other
re re
rectangle rectangle
slash slash
slashed slashed
so so
square square
ti ti
triangle triangle
x x

Where is this type used?

<notehead>