<sod>Notes joined by a beam usually have all the [[stem (music)|stems]] pointing in the same direction (up or down). The average pitch of the notes is used to determine the direction – if the average pitch is below the middle staff-line, the stems and beams usually go above the note head, otherwise they go below.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}}<eod>
<sod>Notes joined by a beam usually have all the [[stem (music)|stems]] pointing in the same direction (up or down). The average pitch of the notes is used to determine the direction – if the average pitch is below the middle staff-line, the stems and beams usually go above the note head, otherwise they go below.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20080407014159/http://www.mpa.org/music_notation/standard_practice.pdf Standard Music Notation Practice] ''Music Publishers' Association of the United States'' (Accessed: 4 April 2013)</ref><eod>