# 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:** 4
**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, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/61 "2016-03-17T18:01:11Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > I think the “Law and Order” dun-dun qualifies. If so, then so does the _Dragnet_ [dun da-dun dun](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDVVplAweZw). ---
**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, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/62 "2016-03-17T18:08:37Z")
Some purty pitchers to go with [Ritual Fire Dance from “El Amor Brujo”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r6KH8bn0r4) ---
**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, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/63 "2016-03-17T18:12:51Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > [Flight of the Bumblebee - Search Videos](http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Flight+of+the+Bumblebee&&view=detail&mid=49F76168EE5CBD1E8C8749F76168EE5CBD1E8C87&FORM=VRDGAR) > > Chase scenes [Also this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnXOr8GvKcQ&t=0m18s). ---
**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, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/64 "2016-03-17T18:33:37Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > I think the “Law and Order” dun-dun qualifies. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > If so, then so does the _Dragnet_ [dun da-dun dun](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDVVplAweZw). And of course, Dun-Dun-Dunnnnnn, also known as Shock Horror by Dick Walter. ---
**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, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/65 "2016-03-17T20:54:26Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > [The Waltzing Cat by Leroy Anderson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOlG8Ut-gTc). Nope. The one I’m thinking of predates Leroy Anderson by about twenty years. It was even used as background music in an Our Gang episode or two, when cats appeared. And Jack Benny mimicked the meowing part with his violin, on his TV show. I remember Anderson’s tune as the one with this end: a small dog barks, and the orchestra plays a riff suggesting the cat is running. ---
**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, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/66 "2016-03-17T22:16:41Z")
As long as we’re doing TV stuff, the opening bars of the “Twilight Zone” intro should qualify as folks would, in real life, toss them ouit when something weird happened. Later this practice was superseded by whistling the opening bars of “The X Files” theme. ---
**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, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/67 "2016-03-17T23:41:22Z")
Horror movie [violin shriek](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfthzU3V4zo). ---
**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 18, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/68 "2016-03-18T04:27:14Z")
I heard a classical-type theme played as background music in commercials suggesting a sour stomach. Finally I heard the piece played formally on a classical-music station (KUSC-FM) in Los Angeles; it was identified as Haydn’s Sonata Andante Cantabile. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/69 "2016-03-18T06:07:03Z")
More horse music: [My Pony Boy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZZ1ItQB76Q&t=0m35s) To evoke anything Irish: [The Irish Washerwoman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6hmqAHE1gk) For a rural feeling: [The Arkansas Traveler](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VTv_JAy-_4&t=0m9s) ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/70 "2016-03-18T08:52:45Z")
To indicate the painkillers are taking effect, the first 18 seconds of [this](https://youtu.be/TLV4_xaYynY) are pretty effective. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/71 "2016-03-18T08:57:02Z")
Oh, [here’s](https://youtu.be/nFvRvSxsW-I) my personal entrance theme. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/72 "2016-03-18T09:35:09Z")
Well, if we’ve devolved to that. [Here’s](https://youtu.be/Tdc-UU2hVrs?t=75) mine (and it’s just riffs upon riffs.) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/73 "2016-03-18T12:27:34Z")
These are great, thanks everyone for posting. I was already familiar with many of these by ear, but it was great to finally put a name/source to them. So what’s the source of the riff heard in the [dramatic prairie dog](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHjFxJVeCQs) video? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/74 "2016-03-18T12:44:43Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > These are great, thanks everyone for posting. I was already familiar with many of these by ear, but it was great to finally put a name/source to them. > > So what’s the source of the riff heard in the [dramatic prairie dog](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHjFxJVeCQs) video? Put me down for curious on that one, too. I just have to point to [The Riff Song - Gordon MacRae](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHAQYJrhxuU) as a prime example of what a _ **riff** _ AIN’T! :mad: That said, [this](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/riff) ought to imply that there are more definitions to explore here! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/75 "2016-03-18T15:05:36Z")
No love for “The Syncopated Clock”? And what was the one that sounded like the clack-clack-clack of an old-fashioned manual typewriter, complete with hitting the arm to reset the carriage and advance the typing to the next line? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/76 "2016-03-18T15:13:33Z")
> [@quiltguy](#): > > No love for “The Syncopated Clock”? > > And what was the one that sounded like the clack-clack-clack of an old-fashioned manual typewriter, complete with hitting the arm to reset the carriage and advance the typing to the next line? Easy enough to find by searching on “typewriter song.” [Wikipedia entry.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Typewriter) [Live performance.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Typewriter) ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/77 "2016-03-18T16:46:05Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > [Live performance.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Typewriter) You accidentally posted the Wikipedia entry twice. Here is a [live performance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2LJ1i7222c). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/78 "2016-03-18T17:05:37Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > You accidentally posted the Wikipedia entry twice. Here is a [live performance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2LJ1i7222c). The bottom of the Wiki entry has two external links to live performances. The first listed–by Alfredo Anaya–has an amusing “set-up.” Didn’t want you to miss 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/79 "2016-03-18T19:28:50Z")
This Wikipedia article on [Ostinato](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostinato#Riff) has a few titles we haven’t already included, along with some keys to finer points of the concept. One of the earliest (in my life) to get me going was the early version of [Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley (1970)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPVKQ9n5604) And because it’s so NON-Chet-Atkins check out [Chet Atkins - Boo Boo Stick Beat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4YbqED0rfs) ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208/80 "2016-03-18T21:56:01Z")
How about the Jaws theme? [Jaws - Theme song - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX3bN5YeiQs) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-riffs/749208.md?page=5)