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old hand
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old hand
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> Do musicians in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and former British colonial possessions use the hemi, semi, demi names?
I did my first theory exam in Australia and learnt semibreves and crotchets etc; not to mention acciaccatura (grace note) and appoggiatura, my Italian favs. I think it's because the exams are similar to the Royal School of Music exams from England.
...by the time seventh grade theory had rolled around the required vocab was the least of my troubles!
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In Canada we learned whole note, half note, quarter note, and so on. The national exam-administering people are called the Royal Conservatory of Music, but it's a Canadian institution, just to make things confusing. Then again, we also have the Royal Canadian Mint, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, to name a few. But I was also reminded the other day in a Canadian knowledge quiz that the Canadian head of state is still technically the Queen! (And I did get the question right - social studies wasn't completely wasted on me!) 
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veteran
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veteran
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Note values
And what the Brits call the breve, the double whole note, is a whole note with vertical lines on either side of it. This is rarely used; I've only seen it in in baroque organ music.
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veteran
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veteran
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Names for musical keys
What is also interesting are the different methods of naming the keys in music. The same system is used, so far as I know, by all English-speaking musicians, but the French/Spanish/Italian systems and the German system are different.
For instance, b-minor is called H-moll in German. What we call B is H in German and the German B is what we call B-flat. Thus, the tune B-A-C-H is actually what we call B-flat, A,C,B. A-major in German is A-dur. moll has the meaning "soft", dur, "hard".
In the Romance languages, the key names go by the tones of the scale, and are either "majeure" or "minuere" (in French -- Spanish and Italian have corresponding names). They begin with C, which is "ut", then D = "re", followed by "mi", "fa", "sol", "la", and "si". Thus, c-min. is "ut mineure", E-maj. is "mi majeure". I forget what they do with the keys incorporating sharps & flats, like F-Sharp-maj or B-flat-maj.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Solfege has different "words" for each of the 1/2 steps in the 12 tone tuning system. These "words" are independent of the lettered equivalent and have to do with relationships to a keys tonic, not specific nominations of hz. The only one I can't imagine would be the "romantic version" of "ut" (instead of D'oh)  .
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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the Canadian head of state is still technically the Queen!I was reminded of this when I managed to decipher "GR" on the jackets of Canadian law enforcement officers. My high school french suggested that it was probably something like "gendarmerie royaume", aka RCMP. Here in NZ we have the anachronistic R in front of several government organisations as well. For those who read(past tense) adolescent detective novels, the Queen's representative here has the surname Hardie-Boyes (I kid you not)
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I can't remember whether I heard this, made it up, or received it in a visitation from some linguistic gnome ~ take your pick, and feel free to tell me if I'm way off base. Hemi- refers to things that are divided horizontally. Semi- refers to things that are divided vertically. Demi- refers to a smaller subset or version of the original. Hmmm. Now that I type it out, it definitely looks like the work of gnomes!
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Pooh-Bah
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Hardie-Boyes is terrific!
Michigan's Lt Governor is one "Dick Posthumus." Leading at least one wag to remark, "you know, you can take Viagra for that now."
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dough, what I use to buy my beer
Ray, the guy that sells me beer
Me, the guy that drinks my beer
Fa, a long way to get beer
So, I think I'll have a beer
La, I think I'll have a beer
Tea, no thanks, I'm drinking beer
And that brings us back to (looks at empty beer glass) D'oh!
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What we call B is H in German and the German B is what we call B-flat.
I'm wondering if this was made up by Bach enthusiasts after Bach composed his little B-A-C-H sequence to make to spell his name. A B H C D E F G makes absolutely no sense.
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