Jon Johanning wrote:

>I'm sure that some one on the list could give me a quick answer.  I assume
>that the British usage was older, and the American one (which agrees with
>most other languages, as far as I know) was a departure from it, but when
>did this occur, and why?

My quick guess would be that the more mathematically logical German note
names were immediately adopted into American English, not the British, and
I would ask if the British nomenclature were ever widely used.  After all,
the present system of *fixed* duple relationships between notes only
originated in the 16th century, when the 32nd notes and 64ths were still
to be devised.

The Italian, Spanish, and French systems, however, are visual.  Every time
you divide a note by two you add a visual element.  The semibreve - 1 - is
the 'round one', because it is, add a stem, and the minim - 1/2 - is the
'white one', fill it in, and the crotchet - 1/4 - is the 'black one', add
a hook for the quaver - 1/8 - and it's the 'hook', double the hook, and the
semiquaver - 1/16 - is the 'double-hook' ...

Ronde, blanche, noire, croche, double-croche, triple-croche,
quadruple-croche ...  It is so easy to *see*.

The British note names are based on Latin and French, and originated in
the 10th century, when the first stirrings of polyphony made notation
necessary.  It began to be codified in the 13th.  The breve (from brevis,
short) was a brief note, compared to long notes in existence at the time,
now fallen into disuse.  (NB Note values have slowed down since).  The
minim, from 'minimus', smallest, was the shortest of this group of long
notes.  Crotchet is from the French 'crochet', little hook, although there
is none to be seen.

The quaver is of Germanic origin, related to the Low German 'quabbein',
it is guessed, through the probable Old English 'cwafian', to tremble or
shake, (compare 'cwacian', to quake), giving Middle English 'quave'.  Why,
I wonder? Because members of the quaver family 'tremble' and ' shake' round
other notes in ornamental trills (shakes)?? I don't know.  Can anyone tell
me?

Sorry - I seem to have executed a shake around the original query above ...

Regards

Christine Labroche