Même note

As Printed on a Score

Printed small over a vocal or instrumental line, often in parentheses, to make clear that the pitch stays the same — for example where a new syllable falls on a repeated note, or where an alternative version keeps the performer on the note already sounding. It applies only to the note it marks.

Also spelled: meme note

How Composers Use It

A clarifying word rather than an expressive one: use it wherever a reader could reasonably expect the pitch to change, such as a repeated note split between syllables or an ossia that holds a pitch the main line leaves. It saves a performer from second-guessing an apparent misprint. Keep it in parentheses and close to the note, so it reads as a reminder rather than a direction about manner.

Example

Viardot, Scène d’Hermione, voice, m. 64: “(même note)”, at f, a bar before “Tempo I”.