Quiet noble paragon (5)
I believe the answer is:
pearl
'paragon' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'quiet noble' is the wordplay.
'quiet' becomes 'p' (music symbol for 'piano').
'noble' becomes 'earl' (earl is a kind of noble).
'p'+'earl'='PEARL'
(Other definitions for pearl that I've seen before include "coming out of shell?" , "Smooth lustrous round structure of calcium carbonate" , "something highly valued" , "Oyster's gem" , "Girl < , pretty" .)