The "H" Chord

[BbAltered]

I have read about this, but have never seen it on a musical page.

 

Here is the written progression on a big band tune we did last night:

Em11 / Em11 / Cmaj / C7b5 H7#5 / Em / Am7 H6/9 / Em

 

I think the "H" chord is what we today call a B or else a Bb chord. Can anyone confirm this for me/

[Joe Muscara]

See #3

 

http://www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory1.htm

[Six-string-man]

I had never heard of this. Must keep it in mind for my next international tour.

 

 

SSM

[marczellm]

Pretty standard here in Hungary (H=B, B=Bb). Except for jazz people, who adapted to the B/Bb convention.

[zephonic]

My dad taught me about it, rousing my curiosity with the question "do you know how to spell B-A-C-H on the piano?"

 

But it is an archaic system, that is hardly ever used anymore, AFAIK.

 

[CEB]

So that is what the hell it is. I saw that once and just had to punt.

[CEB]

See #3

 

http://www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory1.htm

 

Thanks for that link. I'm sharing it with my daughter. She will love that .... if she doesn't already have it bookmarked.

[BbAltered]

Apparently, one of Bach's fugues used the notes B-A-C-H as the main theme. That's what clued me into the H chord notation I saw.

[StanC]

My dad taught me about it, rousing my curiosity with the question "do you know how to spell B-A-C-H on the piano?"

 

But ya still can't, can ya? If B is an H for some, then there's no B to start with. :idk :idk :idk

[J. Dan]

My dad taught me about it, rousing my curiosity with the question "do you know how to spell B-A-C-H on the piano?"

 

But ya still can't, can ya? If B is an H for some, then there's no B to start with. :idk :idk :idk

 

B=Bb

[allan_evett]

My dad taught me about it, rousing my curiosity with the question "do you know how to spell B-A-C-H on the piano?"

 

But ya still can't, can ya? If B is an H for some, then there's no B to start with. :idk :idk :idk

 

When H is in the chart, B becomes Bb. At least that's what I understood. Perhaps you're thinking of Asia Minor

 

 

[richforman]

Fascinating!! Never ever heard of this, thought the language of music was truly universal, amazing how there's always more to learn.

[miden]

Well out here in Oz, I did 5 years of AMEB (Austalian Musical Education Board) theory and it was NEVER referred to as H or B (meaning Bb). It was always B or Bb.

[CEB]

Fascinating!! Never ever heard of this, thought the language of music was truly universal, amazing how there's always more to learn.

 

I am Eastern Orthodox ..... not a very good one sometimes. But I got to experience Byzatine Notation I had never seen anything like that at all.

 

 

[M_G]

 

Here in Germany "H" is "your" B and "our" B is "your" Bb....

 

In my rock band (it was in the early nineties) we had a bass player from chicago.

It was very funny when he wanted us to play in "B" and we started in "Bb" cause he meant "H".....

 

Quite confusing....

;-))

 

[marino]

You yhink an H is confusing? Watch this:

 

Dom7 Fam7 Labmaj7 Sol7 Do7 Fa7 Sib7 Mibmaj7

 

etc.

 

 

 

[16251]

You yhink an H is confusing? Watch this:

 

Dom7 Fam7 Labmaj7 Sol7 Do7 Fa7 Sib7 Mibmaj7

 

etc.

 

 

I wish I could learn songs like this. Then I could easily transpose to any key.

[marczellm]

You think an H is confusing? Watch this:

 

Dom7 Fam7 Labmaj7 Sol7 Do7 Fa7 Sib7 Mibmaj7

 

etc.

 

 

I wish I could learn songs like this. Then I could easily transpose to any key.

 

Not so fast. In Italy and elsewhere they use Fixed do solfège which fixes the Do to C. This means that a piece in D major becomes Re major and that's how they notate all lyrics+guitar chord books etc.

[Baldwin Funster]

I thought the H-chord was the one Hendrix used in purple haze.

[Franz Schiller]

Fixed solfeggio seems like a nightmare!

[zephonic]

In Italy and elsewhere they use Fixed do solfège which fixes the Do to C. This means that a piece in D major becomes Re major and that's how they notate all lyrics+guitar chord books etc.

 

Yeah, some of my South-American friends talk about music like this and it can get confusing at times.

 

[MAJUSCULE]

Fixed solfeggio seems like a nightmare!

 

It's all in what you're used to. I learned solfège in elementary school and letters in piano lessons. They're just different dialects of the same language.

[marino]

Fixed solfeggio seems like a nightmare!

 

It's all in what you're used to. I learned solfège in elementary school and letters in piano lessons.

Exactly. I learned the letter system when I was already a decent musician. It's like a second language to me, like writing in English. It can be learned, but not my native tongue.

 

 

[OB Dave]

I thought the H-chord was the one Hendrix used in purple haze

No, that would be the Hendrix chord.

[John Tweed]

I've heard about the "H" notation but I've never seen it. Once I did some recording where the producer counted four bars into a tricky cue with the bar count at the end of the bar:

1-2-3-1-1-2-3-2-1-2-3-3-1-2-3-4

Made me think! Anyone else encountered this?

 

 

[Pale]

Here in Germany "H" is "your" B and "our" B is "your" Bb....

 

In my rock band (it was in the early nineties) we had a bass player from chicago.

It was very funny when he wanted us to play in "B" and we started in "Bb" cause he meant "H".....

 

Quite confusing....

;-))

 

Croatia is the same. Your B is H here, and your Bb is our B.

[stoken6]

Fixed solfeggio seems like a nightmare!

 

It's not dramatically different to the naming system you're used to ("fixed gee-effio"?). Same notes, different names.

 

As a child, I took some piano lessons in French, and it was precisely as described. I just assumed "do" is French for "C" (which it is, basically).

 

Cheers, Mike.

[DanL]

Reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer buys the Russian car and can't get it to go, and the sales guy says "put it in H!"

[Jazzmammal]

Told ya some of these big band charts are a bitch. The thing is back in the day, most decent players basically knew the tunes anyway and only used the charts as a roadmap just like we do now. But to hand a chart like that to a player who's never heard the song before, well...

 

Bob

[RABid]

I've heard about the "H" notation but I've never seen it. Once I did some recording where the producer counted four bars into a tricky cue with the bar count at the end of the bar:

1-2-3-1-1-2-3-2-1-2-3-3-1-2-3-4

Made me think! Anyone else encountered this?

 

 

I think it is more common to use

1-2-3-4

2-2-3-4

3-2-3-4

4-2-3-4