# Asian musical motif

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-musical-motif/330636>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 11, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-musical-motif/330636 "2005-11-11T21:55:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![TrivTriv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@TrivTriv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TrivTriv)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-musical-motif/330636/1 "2005-11-11T21:55:33Z")

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Hi there-

Something I’ve wondered about for many years, and even asked Cecil about once upon a time…

What is the source of that familiar nine-note musical progression you hear whenever someone’s trying to indicate “Asian”? Roughly: Da-da-da-da-duh-duh-DA-duh-DAAAA! It’s used as a motif in the songs “Turning Japanese” and “Kung Fu Fighting,” and at the end of the excellent “Clonie” by Nellie McKay.

I had two theories:  
(1) It’s from _The Mikado_. A friend who’s a Gilbert and Sullivan expert debunked this, though.  
(2) It’s from Charlie Chan films. Having no Charlie Chan expert on hand, nor the initiative to rent a Charlie Chan film, I still think this is a possibility.

Anyone have any ideas? Thank you.

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**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-musical-motif/330636/2 "2005-11-11T22:32:05Z")

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Do a search on this one, we had a lengthy thread on this which came to no specific conclusions sometime in the last year.

Helpful terms would be “Kung Fu Fighting” and “Chinatown” IIRC.

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**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-musical-motif/330636/3 "2005-11-11T22:36:56Z")

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> **[Where does that stereotypical "oriental" song come from?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=300466)**
>
> Where does that stereotypical “oriental” song come from? You know, the one that goes dee dee dee dee duh duh dee dee duh. Featured heavily in braindead Hollywood flicks made by clueless directors who want to give a scene an “oriental” feel. Also a...

Since you can’t search, here’s the thread that \*\*Crandolph \*\* was talking about.

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**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-musical-motif/330636/4 "2005-11-11T22:47:45Z")

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Sorry I didn’t provide link, I’m at work & sometimes the connection is a bit slow for searches…

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**Author:** ![TrivTriv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@TrivTriv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TrivTriv)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-musical-motif/330636/5 "2005-11-12T03:10:53Z")

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Cool, thanks. No definitive answer, but I knew it was a tough one.

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**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-musical-motif/330636/6 "2005-11-12T07:59:49Z")

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Moved to CS.

- **xash**  
General Questions Moderator