# Church (and other) bells

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-and-other-bells/313929>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 24, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-and-other-bells/313929 "2005-07-24T16:03:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![taylorcope3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@taylorcope3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taylorcope3)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-and-other-bells/313929/1 "2005-07-24T16:03:13Z")

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This struck me at work the other day so I thought I’d hand it over to you guys:

After living in close proximity to churches, etc. for a good potion of my life, I have noticed that there seems to be a faily common 8-note sequence which is often played twice on the bells to mark the hour. I’ve also noticed this pop up as a popular tune on electric doorbells. What is the name of this little song? And why did it become the industry standard for chimes, hourly or otherwise?

TC

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**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-and-other-bells/313929/2 "2005-07-24T16:16:16Z")

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Probably [Westminster Quarters](http://www.champsclock.com/download/largewes.mp3) as made famous by [Big Ben](http://chromehenge.ca/attach.aspx/743/03-Obligatory%20Big%20Ben%20Shot.jpg)