Comparative chart of US and British note names

[herodotus]

American:whole note. British:semibreve.
American:half note. British:minim.
American:quarter note. British:crochet.
American:eighth note. British:quaver.
American:sixteenth note. British:semiquaver.
American:thirty-second note. British:demisemiquaver.

[mistertoast]

Man, I love those. Quaint as hell. Almost as good as British money names.

[Sascha Franck]

Wow, with all those UK folks around here, this is certainly good to know.

[Watto]

What do Germans use, Sascha? I would have assumed the British form...

[Sascha Franck]

What do Germans use, Sascha? I would have assumed the British form...

No, just exactly like the US folks, only translated.
Whole note = Ganze Note
Half note: Halbe Note
Quarter note = Viertel Note
Eighth note = Achtel Note
Sixteenth note = Sechzehntel Note

I actually think this makes the most sense as well, as it's describing their "numeric" values just fine.

[duncanparsons]

thx John.. I realise that this is probably in part due to me good call tho!

DSP

[Barf]

What do Germans use, Sascha? I would have assumed the British form...

Don't the Germans use 'H' for a 'B' note/chord?

[shamann]

You left off the best one of the bunch:

American:sixty-fourth note. British:hemidemisemiquaver.

And further:

German:Vierundsechzigstelnote. Italian:Semibiscroma. Spanish:Semifusa French:Octuple croche

[CinningBao]

don't forget the longest of them all.... the breve!



no idea what the merkins call it?

[Sascha Franck]

Don't the Germans use 'H' for a 'B' note/chord?

Yeah, and it's quite weird (highly illogical as well, as ABCD... is obviously making more sense than AHCD...), especially as in all "modern" sheets, you will write B, but most people will still call it H. Get's even more confusing as soon as any Bb is involved, because that is what we call B by tradition.

So, B is traditionally called H and Bb is called B but we write B and Bb, some people calling the B a B, others calling it an H.
Errrr.... yes. Really, it's like that!

[GHOST19]

In French :
whole note = ronde
half = blanche
quarter = noire
eight = croche
sixteenth = double croche
thirty-second = triple croche

also C=do D=ré E=mi F=fa G=sol A=la and B=si

[Sascha Franck]

also C=do D=ré E=mi F=fa G=sol A=la and B=si

What about sharps and flats?

Btw, this system, historically, has been no "absolute" but a relative naming system. So, whatever was your root in a major key was called "do".

[shamann]

don't forget the longest of them all.... the breve!



no idea what the merkins call it?

double whole note

[dreamkeeper]

Get's even more confusing as soon as any Bb is involved, because that is what we call B by tradition.

Yeah, I constantly screwed up when I had piano lessons. Confused the hell out of me and still makes me stumble.

Reportedly a monk (obviously with poor eye sight) started it all. While copying some score sheets he mistook a "b" for an "h". Dunno if that's true though...

So how should I call the "Bb" in german if I decide to call the "B" a "B"? "Bes"? Hmmm, sounds strange...

[Sascha Franck]

So how should I call the "Bb" in german if I decide to call the "B" a "B"? "Bes"? Hmmm, sounds strange...

Yeah well, some people over here are doing so indeed. And yes, even if it makes sense, it *does* sound strange.
I'm mostly using "Beh" and "Hah", but of course it sometimes makes uo for some confusion.