# I can name that tune in 1 note **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578 "2009-04-09T23:01:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/1 "2009-04-09T23:01:40Z")
I had one of the music channels on last night and was amazed at how often I knew exactly what song was coming on by the very first note. It got me to thinking how many songs I think I could do that with. Here’s what I came up with: “Kiss On My List” by Hall and Oates “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Purple Rain,” and “Little Red Corvette” by Prince and the Revolution “I Feel for You” by Chaka Khan “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who “Hell’s Bells,” “Back in Black,” and “You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC Others I’m sure, but I’m curious what yours are. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/2 "2009-04-09T23:15:43Z")
Tons, but the one I always think of in this way is the opening Hammond organ note of “A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Procol Harum. Also: “Tales of Brave Ulysses,” Cream “A Hard Day’s Night,” Beatles “Fire,” Crazy World of Arthur Brown “Roundabout,” Yes “Aqualung,” Jethro Tull ---
**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:** [April 9, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/3 "2009-04-09T23:26:13Z")
“Lola” (one chord, but still the same idea). ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/4 "2009-04-10T00:07:34Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I had one of the music channels on last night and was amazed at how often I knew exactly what song was coming on by the very first note. It got me to thinking how many songs I think I could do that with. . Back when I was in junior high was an a bunch of musicians visit for an assembly - at the end of the event they asked if anyone would attempt to identify a song with a single note. One kid dared to do so, and darned if he didn’t do it - “The Theme to Close Encounters” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/5 "2009-04-10T00:58:32Z")
There’s probably a lot (if we’re talking recorded music), but of the top of my head, for distinctive first chords/note “Hard Day’s Night” by the Beatles would have to be up there. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/6 "2009-04-10T01:37:08Z")
Johnny Angel ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/7 "2009-04-10T01:39:47Z")
The theme to “Phantom of the Opera” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/8 "2009-04-10T02:10:17Z")
Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix > [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > “Fire,” Crazy World of Arthur Brown Nitpick: Isn’t that technically identifying the song by the first shouted word? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/9 "2009-04-10T02:24:16Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Nitpick: Isn’t that technically identifying the song by the first shouted word? Sure. But lots of songs begin with the word “I.” Few of them are as riveting as the “I” that kicks off “Fire,” though. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/10 "2009-04-10T02:28:18Z")
Don’t know that it’s the very first note because the second note is the eighth right on top of it but Gary Jules’\* Mad World \* from _Donny Darko_. A guy at work has a ringtone that only ever plays two notes before he answers. I asked him only the other day if it is Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros _Ramshackle Day Parade_. Not only has he never heard of the song he has never heard on the band or even Joe Strummer. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mycroft\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_H)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/11 "2009-04-10T03:28:40Z")
The only one I can think of at present is “I Don’t Like Mondays” by the Boomtown Rats. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/12 "2009-04-10T03:39:10Z")
The Crystals’ “Then He Kissed Me.” ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/13 "2009-04-10T03:49:15Z")
This sort of thing came up about 5 years ago and the clear consensus winner of “songs the most people can identify in one note” is Also Sprach Zarathustra. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/14 "2009-04-10T13:52:55Z")
I’ve got the Monday Night Football theme as my ringtone (the instrumental one, not the hellish “Are you ready…” they play now), and I think you might be surprised by how many people could identify that immediately. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/15 "2009-04-10T13:59:01Z")
The Temptations’ Can’t Get Next To You ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/16 "2009-04-10T14:27:54Z")
“Echoes” by **Pink Floyd** piiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggggggg… ---
**Author:** ![bellybean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@bellybean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bellybean)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/17 "2009-04-10T14:34:04Z")
“School” by Supertramp. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/18 "2009-04-10T14:53:58Z")
We’ll be driving in the car and every so often my hand will shoot out to the radio to change the station. My husband will ask me why and I will tell him “Fleetwood Mac” or “The Eagles” or some other band I despise. He’ll ask me how I could even tell, as the song hadn’t even started yet. Oh, I can tell. I can hear the fuckers warming _up_. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/19 "2009-04-10T15:34:44Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > “Echoes” by **Pink Floyd** > > piiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggggggg… Heh, at the DC for the company I work at, the blackberry carried by the tech on duty had a tone that was identical to that ping, and sometimes the alerts would come in at the right frequency to mimic the start of the song. They eventually changed it, but when I had to be there for work, I kept expecting this thirty minute song to start. Additionally, I am pretty sure I can id these on the first note: Wooly Bully Hung Bunny by the Melvins I Heard Her Call My Name by the Velvet Underground ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578/20 "2009-04-10T15:39:13Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > “Echoes” by **Pink Floyd** _Good_ one. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-name-that-tune-in-1-note/492578.md?page=2)