fusas

Fusa, plural fusas, is a note value in modern Western musical notation representing one thirty-second of a whole note. In Spanish-speaking contexts the singular is fusa and the plural fusas; in English it is commonly called the thirty-second note, or demisemiquaver in British usage. It sits between the thirty-second and sixty-fourth notes in the standard sequence of note lengths.

Notation and duration: A fusa is written with three flags or beams. In practice, fusas are often grouped in sequences of four to fill the time of an eighth note, or in shorter groupings to reflect subdivision within a beat. In a 4/4 bar, there are eight fusas per quarter note and 32 fusas per measure, assuming a steady tempo. A single fusa lasts half as long as a sixteenth note and twice as long as a sixty-fourth note.

Usage and context: Fusas appear in fast passages, rapid scales, arpeggios, and ornamental figures in piano, orchestral, and choral scores. They are used when precise subdivision of a beat is required or when rapid note runs, tremolos, or virtuosic flourishes are notated. Composers and arrangers employ fusas to convey speed and rhythmic complexity without altering tempo.

Relation to other values: The fusa is part of the standard set of note values alongside longer and shorter durations, such as the semicorchea (sixteenth note) and semifusa (sixty-fourth note). In terminology, the fusa corresponds to the English term thirty-second note; understanding its place helps interpret timing and rhythm across scores in different languages.