English zu Deutsch Modern-Musik-Wörterbuch?

[riccaliolio]

Hi, everyone! I saw in the home page that it's encouraged for English speakers to post in English so I hope you don't mind.

I am currently a member of two bands here in Germany, and I am already familiar with very few basic German music words and concepts. These include the parts of the guitar, Dur and Moll, and that H = B and B = Bb. -P) My bands can speak English but sometimes I will tell them to do something - like strum harder, palm-mute, pull-off, hammer-on, slide up/down, make your tone brighter/mellower, etc. - but they would not immediately understand. Since I am already studying the German language, maybe I can try and learn these words first.

So, do you know of any English-to-German dictionaries specifically for modern music terminologies? It would be great if there is something online or in an app, but I don't mind buying a physical book if there is no choice.

Thank you in advance!

 

[MrC]

Hi riccaliolio,

I had to chuckle when I read your initial post since I know this problem very well. Here's what I did:
- I usually employ dict.leo.org as my standard translation source
- I started my own glossary (Excel file), but it's far from complete
- there are some online sources concerning music terminology; my favorite is http://www.notenlehre.com/musiklexikon/index.php with 500+ words

And don't worry: a lot of the English terms should be well known in the German musician community ... e.g., I don't even know if there is a proper translation for "palm muting" or "hammer-on" ... and I'm afraid a proper translation might sound weird or complicated ...

 

[riccaliolio]

I usually employ dict.leo.org as my standard translation source

Is this more reliable than Google Translate? By the way, I recently discovered Linguee and so far I think this is a lot better than Google Translate for single word translations. Linguee includes a distinction between which translated words are more commonly used and which ones are more obscure. They also have example sentences for context usage.

I started my own glossary (Excel file), but it's far from complete

Care to share? Haha! Just kidding.

http://www.notenlehre.com/musiklexikon/index.php

Alles klar! Danke!

And don't worry: a lot of the English terms should be well known in the German musician community

Yes, I noticed this, too. There are just some who I think do not understand me... Or maybe they do not know the techniques in the first place. Haha! :-D

Thanks for the response!

 

[stoffl.s]

Hi, usually I would say most of the terms should be understood, as those terms are used widely untranslated. Similar to the IT world, where the terminology is mostly in English.
I haven't tried leo.org to translate musical terms, as it is a common dictionary, not a specialized one.

Maybe the best trick, if you want to tell them something and they do not understand: show them what you mean and ask them how they would call it. And regarding each tones: be sure to establish the teminology, especially B, Bb and H, as this can cause the greatest confusion.