In British music talk, a semiquaver is a very short note: it lasts one sixteenth of a semibreve, the long “whole” note. On the page it has a filled-in head and two little tails, or it sits in a group with two bars across the stems. Four semiquavers fill the time of one crotchet (what Americans call a quarter note). Americans almost never say this word; they say sixteenth note instead. Though actually, players still feel it the same way wherever they trained — only the name changes. You will meet semiquaver in British exam books, old scores, and with teachers who learned the UK names. A pop musician in the US may look blank if you use it. One step shorter still is a demisemiquaver, but that is a rarer guest.

十六分音符（英式樂理；美式說 sixteenth note）