# Does anyone recognize this partial melody? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2009, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-recognize-this-partial-melody/480657 "2009-01-10T10:22:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-recognize-this-partial-melody/480657/1 "2009-01-10T10:22:34Z")
…or at least my [amateurish whistled imitation](http://drop.io/whatisthistune/asset/song-wma) of it? ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-recognize-this-partial-melody/480657/2 "2009-01-10T10:40:12Z")
Wow, that sounds really familiar…unfortunately I’m blanking on it right now. I think it reminds me most of something I might have heard on a movie soundtrack, but I could be totally off on that. It also sounds vaguely like a hymn or Christmas carol that I can’t place at the moment. Hope someone solves this one for you soon, I’m eager to find out, too. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-recognize-this-partial-melody/480657/3 "2009-01-10T10:45:48Z")
Got it! It’s [Greensleeves!](http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=P5ItNxpwChE) Or, alternately, it’s “What Child is this?” which is sung to the tune of Greensleeves. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-recognize-this-partial-melody/480657/4 "2009-01-10T11:12:25Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > Got it! It’s [Greensleeves!](http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=P5ItNxpwChE) Or, alternately, it’s “What Child is this?” which is sung to the tune of Greensleeves. Oooh… good guess, but not quite ☹ I thought there was a part of Greensleeves I might not’ve known, but I listened to the whole song and that melody’s not in it. It’s CLOSE though. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-recognize-this-partial-melody/480657/5 "2009-01-10T11:18:19Z")
Wow, are you sure it couldn’t be [“What Child is this?”](http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=suDucjUgSCM) I swear that’s all I can hear now when I listen to your whistling sample. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-recognize-this-partial-melody/480657/6 "2009-01-10T11:19:58Z")
I just realized that whistling it without any tonguing makes it hard to tell the notes apart… my bad! Hopefully this [hummed version](http://drop.io/whatisthistune/asset/hum-wma) will have somewhat better-defined notes. Edit: And yeah, as far as I can tell, you’re right that “What Child Is This” is the same melody as Greensleeves… unfortunately ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-recognize-this-partial-melody/480657/7 "2009-01-10T11:26:10Z")
Dang. Sorry, tried my best! ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-recognize-this-partial-melody/480657/8 "2009-01-10T11:57:52Z")
And if it helps, here’s my attempt to write it in [musical notation](http://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/073addd600d55dddbdc49d09bcb1b0fc1646db08) (also available as a [plain image](http://i40.tinypic.com/x5wqdv.png) if you don’t want to wait for the Flash editor to load). I’m not a musician, though, so it’s far from perfect. And Cuckoorex, I certainly appreciate the attempt 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-recognize-this-partial-melody/480657/9 "2009-01-10T13:28:43Z")
It might help if you could tell us where you heard it, or at least what genre it might be. Is it a vocal? Instrumental? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-recognize-this-partial-melody/480657/10 "2009-01-10T15:07:00Z")
The only thing it reminds me of is Seal’s “Kiss From a Rose.” But that could be because you’re humming it in a similar way. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-recognize-this-partial-melody/480657/11 "2009-01-10T16:35:35Z")
**Rhythmdvl** posted this page last year: [musipedia](http://www.musipedia.org/index.php?id=1&L=0) > [@](#): > > Musipedia uses the “Melodyhound” melody search engine. You can find and identify a tune even if the melody is all you know. You can play it on a piano keyboard, whistle it to the computer, simply tap the rhythm on the computer keyboard or use the Parsons code. Links are embedded into the text, and the piano keyboard goes to an image of a keyboard you can play the notes on.