# Guitar notation symbol query



## d.healey (May 8, 2017)

Please can someone tell me what this diamond symbol means? Is it just a normal half note or does it have more meaning?


----------



## Luke W (May 8, 2017)

Looks like "Rhythmic Notation" in Finale-speak. Just indicates a Eb(no3) chord played for a duration of one half note. Rhythmic notation sits on the center line (Bb) but does not mean a Bb pitch. Just showing the rhythm of the chord changes.


----------



## d.healey (May 8, 2017)

Luke W said:


> Looks like "Rhythmic Notation" in Finale-speak. Just indicates a Eb(no3) chord played for a duration of one half note. Rhythmic notation sits on the center line (Bb) but does not mean a Bb pitch. Just showing the rhythm of the chord changes.


Thanks. So how would one mock that up? Is it just a single strummed chord?


----------



## JJP (May 8, 2017)

d.healey said:


> Thanks. So how would one mock that up? Is it just a single strummed chord?


 That's exactly right. A guitarist will play a single chord for a half-note duration, just as Luke W said.


----------



## MarcusMaximus (May 8, 2017)

Diamond shaped note heads are also used to denote harmonics in guitar notation, certainly for classical guitar anyway. In this case though it looks more likely to be the chord as suggested, given the other information.


----------



## JJP (May 8, 2017)

MarcusMaximus said:


> Diamond shaped note heads are also used to denote harmonics in guitar notation, certainly for classical guitar anyway. In this case though it looks more likely to be the chord as suggested, given the other information.


When diamond-shaped noteheads are used for harmonics, they are generally the same size as a standard notehead (1 space). When they are used for rhythmic notation, they are larger as in this case. Notice that the notehead takes up a full two spaces on the staff.


----------

