Question for our European chart readers…

[ElmerJFudd]

Pardon my ignorance on this matter, but I’m trying to find the meaning of symbols like, 

 

cis, fis, h, fis/e, etc.  

 

I found a midi note name chart on Google that suggests these are German note names, like fis means F#, cis C#.  
 

I’m assuming these are common  chord symbols in  church organ music? 
 

I had a Polish student bring the chart below to me.  In this example is the harmony,

 

A | F#m C#m | A | F#m E | Bm | etc? 
 

 

fis/e is equivalent to F#m/E?   But why is e sometimes E?  
 

Anyway, I think I’m on the right track, anything you can offer, much appreciated.  👍

 

[Jose EB5AGV]

Yes, Fis is F# and fis is F#m

 

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Fis

[analogika]

In German, lowercase letter often denotes a minor chord, while Capitalised means major. 
 

the accidentals are named thus: 

C# = cis

D# = Dis

E# = E-is

F# = fis

G# = gis

A# = A-is

B# = His (the note „B“ is called „h“ in German-speaking countries, for any one of about five plausible historical reasons)

 

Cb = Ces

Db = Des

Eb = Es

Fb = Fes

Gb = Ges

Ab = As (yep. Go figure.)

Bb = B (madness, you say? German music terminology has much of that in store!)

so the first line of the example above would be the chords 

 

A F#m C#m A F#m E Bm F#m E Bm F#m E

[Rod S]

Wow.. and I complain about the notation differences in Portuguese.

 

This was interesting - thanks for the thorough explanation.  

[analogika]

Can you imagine six professional musicians at rehearsal, prepping a new tune from a handout sheet, and encountering a “B”? 
 

It’s guaranteed to trip them up, as somebody will be playing a Bb, with others playing a B. 
 

it makes me want to pull my hair out. 

[ElmerJFudd]

1 hour ago, analogika said:

Can you imagine six professional musicians at rehearsal, prepping a new tune from a handout sheet, and encountering a “B”? 
 

It’s guaranteed to trip them up, as somebody will be playing a Bb, with others playing a B. 
 

it makes me want to pull my hair out. 

Especially for the poor fellow like myself who only just figured out the “h” means B… or was that b or Bb?! 😂

[stoken6]

10 hours ago, analogika said:

Can you imagine six professional musicians at rehearsal, prepping a new tune from a handout sheet, and encountering a “B”? 
 

It’s guaranteed to trip them up, as somebody will be playing a Bb, with others playing a B. 
 

it makes me want to pull my hair out. 

I'm confident that's died out now. It was the case in the time of Bach, which was cool for him, because he could insert his name into a melody...

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Tracii]

12 hours ago, analogika said:

Can you imagine six professional musicians at rehearsal, prepping a new tune from a handout sheet, and encountering a “B”? 
 

It’s guaranteed to trip them up, as somebody will be playing a Bb, with others playing a B.  

That's why I always go with "H" or "Bb", but never just "B". 🎓☺️

[Threadslayer]

I'm surprised that after 60+ years of playing music I've never encountered this notation before.

[analogika]

10 hours ago, stoken6 said:

I'm confident that's died out now. It was the case in the time of Bach, which was cool for him, because he could insert his name into a melody...

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA fuck no. 

Bach's vanity is one reason it will never disappear. 

I live and work in Germany, and it happens at least once EVERY NEW BAND REHEARSAL.

 

Seriously, if you figure the time this costs working professionals as a few minutes by however many musicians, the economic damage has got to be in the tens of millions of Euros every year. 

 

It's only the more "pop"-oriented private music schools that teach the note as "b" — public schools, public music schools, more traditional music schools, and conservatories all teach the note as "h". 

[Floyd Tatum]

I've encountered European jazz/pop-music-type charts a couple of times over the years, and yeah, they are a bit different!   It's a bit like looking at a different language.   A lot's the same, but there are differences.

 

(unrelated additional observation:  how the heck are europe and asia considered two continents?  Same land mass...   ?)

 

[analogika]

19 hours ago, Floyd Tatum said:

(unrelated additional observation:  how the heck are europe and asia considered two continents?  Same land mass...   ?)

 

 

There's the Ural mountain range where the two continents mash into each other.