Music in Other Languages!

Jonathan
Mar 30, 2015
2 min read

Have you ever wondered how music is different in other languages? There are some actually some really cool diversities that the average person isn't aware of! Here are a couple of them!

H Note:

In German and Scandinavian music, there's a note that is named "H".

How is that possible? There can't be more notes in between the normal A, A♭, B, B♭, etc!

Actually, there can (because music theory) but that's besides the point! The "H Note" is actually a note most musicians are very familiar with! They use it on a regular basis!

The "H Note" is actually "B Note"! This traces back to the medieval system for writing music! There were six notes that were unique (C,D,E,F,G, & A) and one that could be written in two ways {Soft B (♭) and Hard B (♮) }!

There are three main theories as to why "B" is sometimes called "H" in Germany and Scandinavia. One theory is that the Natural Sign looked like an H with an added crossbar. The second is that H was simply the next letter of the alphabet that hadn't been used yet! The final theory is that H stood for "hart" the German word for "hard" (because of "Hard B")!

Taiko Counting:

Taiko Drumming is a percussive style found in traditional Japanese culture! As opposed to the Western way of counting (using 1,2,3,4 for quarter notes, & for eighth notes and e/a for 16th notes), Taiko has it's own way of counting!

In Taiko, each kind of strike has it's own name.

~Don / どん - (Dohn) - a single strike in the middle of the drum (equivalent to a quarter note)

~Ka - (Kah) - the clicking of the sticks together or the hitting of the rim of the drum

~Doko, Doro, Dogo / どこ- (dohkoh) - two notes in succession at a constant louder volume

~Tsuku / (tsookoo) signifies two notes in succession at a constant soft volume

~sa, ho, iy - (sah, hoh, eye) - signifies a rest

~Kara - (kahrah) - two notes hit in an alternating pattern (left then right, or right then left)

So, dorotsuku would be two loud eight notes, followed by two softer eight notes.