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Hi Ralf,
On Tue, Jul 17, 2012 at 9:56 AM, Ralf Mardorf

 wrote:

quoted text
>

> So a b# would be a h#?

Yes, the circle of 12 fifths starting from C would then be:

C-G

G-D

D-A

A-E

E-H

H-F#

F#-C#

C#-G#

G#-D#

D#-A#

A#-E#

E#-H#
> Somebody mentioned that understanding this theory

quoted text
> does include to know the history.

As far as I understood:

In ancient notation a B (or better: the note between "la" and "ut" or

"do") can be flattened without accidental to avoid the tritone (F-B

(german: F-H)). To readers/singers it was clear when the B should be

sung flattened or not. So there happened to be a soft (mollum) and a

hard (durum) B. In Germany (and probably other German speaking

countries) both still exist, in the rest of the world the B is "hard"

unless it is flattened.
> For people who just want to note guitar chords, ignoring any theory

quoted text
> regarding to keys, in Germany it's safe to name h = h, but to name the

> German b anyway bb or a#.

I understand what you mean, but when people would start using Bb and H

both together in one notation it might even get more confusing.
Using A# instead is even worse when you meant to write a B-flat.

The chord "C7" consists of C-E-(G)-Bb. So in German notation this

would be written as C-E-(G)-B, which could be interpreted as a C^7

(Cmaj7) by a foreigner and that's confusing. C-A# however isn't a 7th

but an augmented 6th. The harmonic function is totally different, just

like B# (German: H#) and C (Belgian: TI# and DO) as we discussed

before.
The names of the notes are squishy, nobody can

quoted text
> see if written chord names are written "in German" or not, as long as

> there's only a "B" but no "H". Btw. "a" means "Am"?! There are different

> writings, large and small letters, signs for same chords.

>

> I suspect notation needs a disclaimer. We have similar issues for guitar

> tabs, you'll find tons of dropped-D tuning tabs where the name of the

> strings aren't added and there's no hint that it's a dropped-D tuning.

>

Yes, that sounds like good practice, although usually it gets clear

pretty quick when you're looking at German notation, because of more

differences than just H and B, like "a" instead of "Am" as you

mentioned, and of course the language of any (non-Italian) words

written next to it.

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