Musician's half note on a short list in the morning was deliberately simple (10)

I believe the answer is:

minimalism

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'a short list in the morning was deliberately simple' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.

'musician's half note on' is the wordplay.
'musician's' becomes 'malis' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'half note' becomes 'minim' (synonyms).
'on' indicates putting letters inside (as in clothing 'on' a person).
'malis' inserted within 'minim' is 'MINIMALISM'.

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I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.

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