# Famous riffs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 16, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208 "2016-03-16T20:16:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/41 "2016-03-17T15:35:59Z")
I think that was from the 1812 Overture, with cannons, by Tchaikovsky. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/42 "2016-03-17T15:37:57Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I think that was from the 1812 Overture, with cannons, by Tchaikovsky. [Right.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9Dct0l2uVM) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/43 "2016-03-17T15:45:11Z")
More classical: “[Morning](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RM7cQCC4sU)” from _The William Tell Oveture_. “[Horses trotting](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF5nhMIyeqI&t=2m20s)” from The Light Calvary by Franz von Suppe. [General mayhem](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3_aM_s0R1U&t=3m30s) from “The Poet and Peasant Overture,” also by von Suppe ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/44 "2016-03-17T15:47:51Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Position your mouse over the link, close your eyes and click. [You’ll recognize this immediately.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUpDG680uew) They say that the definition of a true intellectual is someone who can listen to the _William Tell Overture_ without thinking of the Lone Ranger. Another theme for “riders on horseback” is [Von Suppe’s _Light Cavalry Overture_](https://youtu.be/XFQpPbjJWTc?t=128). If you want to evoke either Russia or drudgery use [_Volga Boatmen_.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNb54rwDQJM) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/45 "2016-03-17T15:55:05Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > “[Horses trotting](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF5nhMIyeqI&t=2m20s)” from The Light Calvary by Franz von Suppe. Ninja’d! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/46 "2016-03-17T15:59:55Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > More classical: “[Morning](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RM7cQCC4sU)” from _The William Tell Oveture_. And another [_Morning Mood_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH1JMdWpJ54)from Grieg’s _Peer Gynt Suite._ Grieg’s [_Hall of the Mountain King_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLp_Hh6DKWc)is good for creepy, from the same piece. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/47 "2016-03-17T16:05:39Z")
No one’s posted this one yet? (Kill da Wabbit) ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/48 "2016-03-17T16:08:12Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > They say that the definition of a true intellectual is someone who can listen to the _William Tell Overture_ without thinking of the Lone Ranger. Correct. A true intellectual thinks, “Happy anniversary! Happy anniversary!” ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/49 "2016-03-17T16:09:58Z")
The [Chicken Reel](https://youtu.be/_bBGNwMM_5g). ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/50 "2016-03-17T16:13:50Z")
Just in case somebody on the planet isn’t aware that this even had a name of its own, I give you [Top 10 Wilhelm Screams](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0V-2WdubTs&ebc=ANyPxKp4I_Nb4VdPqrAKliuSXCIYijs95by6VdTlExfOsPa_-ED8JOi50VhRoTgAk91V2UUF64DS) which may be confusing to some who relish in the DAHN-DAHN-DAHNAN-DAHN thing that’s in every Western and many other genres where an Indian-like gathering is about to converge on some settlers-like assortment of “good guys.” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/51 "2016-03-17T16:37:10Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > [The Amen Break.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen_break) Also [The Funky Drummer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funky_Drummer) My favourite use of it being [Fool’s Gold](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSD11dnphg0). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/52 "2016-03-17T16:51:13Z")
More from classical music: [The opening motif of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGnBrabqdP4) [The funeral march from Chopin’s 2nd Piano Sonata](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyFyAqLtHq8) [“Here Comes the Bride”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4sNsGePgs8) (Wedding March from Wagner’s Lohengrin) ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/53 "2016-03-17T16:56:17Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > Somebody help me out here. In the old westerns when the Indians showed up there was this herald of ‘Bwaaaa dot dunna dunt dut duh…’ > > My Google Fu is failing, what was that called? Maybe the William Tell Overture Finale (also known as the Lone Ranger Theme Song)? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/54 "2016-03-17T17:01:35Z")
Moseying on horseback - On the Trail from the Grand Canyon Suite - [- YouTube](https://youtu.be/bVKVB0MImOg?t=90) Cloudburst from GCS is good too, but not quite as distinctive. Classic creepy theme, Toccata and Fugue in D minor - [Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (Best Version Ever) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho9rZjlsyYY) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/55 "2016-03-17T17:23:43Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > There’s one I’d like to know the title of… > It’s played as background music when cats appear in old movies… > Da-da-da da-DA-da– > Meow! Meow! [The Waltzing Cat by Leroy Anderson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOlG8Ut-gTc). ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/56 "2016-03-17T17:30:24Z")
[someone rides a horse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF5nhMIyeqI&t=2m24s), slow trot not galloping. [Something sad happens](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnXOr8GvKcQ&t=0m18s) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/57 "2016-03-17T17:51:37Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > [The Waltzing Cat by Leroy Anderson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOlG8Ut-gTc). Leroy wrote the soundtrack of my early life and that of many people in my cohort (early 1940s births). So many of his tunes are just part of how music was just in the background of so many things. I think my favorite of all of them is [“The Phantom Regiment” by Leroy Anderson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7kC-kPcWF8) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/58 "2016-03-17T17:56:35Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Leroy wrote the soundtrack of my early life and that of many people in my cohort (early 1940s births). So many of his tunes are just part of how music was just in the background of so many things. > > I think my favorite of all of them is [“The Phantom Regiment” by Leroy Anderson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7kC-kPcWF8) I really like [Bugler’s Holiday](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHDd0jQxrI0). All that double and triple tonguing takes a lot of skill to do perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/59 "2016-03-17T17:58:44Z")
I think the “Law and Order” dun-dun qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/60 "2016-03-17T18:00:29Z")
Creepy Dracula-type music, courtesy of [Mussorgsky](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCEDfZgDPS8) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208.md?page=4)