Before posting, please read: When to use this forum, when to submit a help ticket

Transpose and choice of chord-names

Started by pheldal, October 27, 2019, 05:01:20 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

pheldal

Am I the only  one who struggle with users with different preferences for chord-names sharing the same database? When transposing it makes a difference whether chords are written in this or that notation:

Throughout the world there are many different ways of naming notes. My region (northern europe) is split between using these two difference sequences of notes
A Bb B C    (known to me as "english notation", used in the UK/commonwealth and related nations)
A B H C     ("german notation", used in much of mainland Europe)

Transposing is messed up when transposing a song written in one notation in an app set to use the other.

It would be a lot better if BH always would use one notation internally and only use the others for input and rendering. I know this would be a huge job because it affects both data input and output with changes to both editing and display-code. That's the reason for seeking feedback here.

Normally people from one country would all be using the same notation and this wouldn't be an issue. However, there was a period of 10+ years in the early days of computer tools for music when most available tools only supported the UK/US version. Myself and others who got used to these tools thus changed our preference from what we had learned back in the pre-digital age.

arlo

I can put this on my wish list, but anyone else who finds this to be a problem can still weigh in here.

Tasten-Bert

Hmm, this is not as easy as it appears according to what Pheldal writes. I'm German and make music in several bands, Schlager and Rock-Covers. No matter what kind of music, it's mostly that the guitar players call the chords the US/UK way: A - B flat - B - C. For me, being the keyboard player, a 'B' is an 'H' and a 'B flat' is a 'B'. More complex: pheldal speaks of mainland Europe having it the "German" way. I lived in Italy some years, and my band colleagues there called our 'H' resp. 'B' a 'Si' and our 'B' resp. 'B flat' a 'Si bemolle'. I can't imagine of any system to base the app on. Any other thought appreciated. Best regards.

pheldal

Quote from: Tasten-Bert on October 29, 2019, 10:12:27 AM
Hmm, this is not as easy as it appears according to what Pheldal writes.
True. I'm over-simplifying, just touching the surface. No rules without exceptions it appears. I wasn't aware of further variations in europe, but I'm not schooled in classical music either. I described the problem as it appear from my narrow perspective. The ideal solution would probably involve a set of translation-schemes between the internal representation and what is chosen for display. There could be defaults based on language/nationality, but with an option to choose a specific scheme.