"I can name that tune in _____ notes"

Cafe Society
1

There are a couple of newish threads (that I have seen today) dealing with recognizable melodies and such.

I can name PETER GUNN THEME 1958 - 1961 just from the drum pattern before a single melody note has been played, from having listened to that album since I was in high school.

Many other recordings are identifiable from the opening chord or musical figure.

Let’s try to get as many such things identified in this thread as we can. Links to the tunes will be great, but if you’re pretty sure everybody ought to know it by name, go for it.

2

The opening drum signature at the beginning is all most people need to know that following it will be She Loves You.

3

The first chord in “Lola.”

4

I won a contest once naming Ben Folds Five’s Underground on the first note. The DJ actually meant to start the contest at the chord at :09 in the video, but while he was re-cuing I came up and answered based on the accordion note.

I don’t know if the general public can answer based on the chord at :09 (I do believe that’s where the radio single begins) but if you know that song, you should be able to name it there.

However, a more accessible example would be the first note of A Hard Day’s Night.

5

The guitar feedback that begins I Feel Fine.

6

The cash register in Money - Pink Floyd

7

Damn, **ZipperJJ **beat me on “A Hard Day’s Night.”

And the beginning of every one of Beethoven’s symphonies.

8

I bet I could name Nirvana’s “Smells like Teen Spirit” on the opening twang of the guitar.

9

“A Hard Day’s Night” really can’t be beat, but the opening organ note of “A Whiter Shade of Pale” comes close.

10

The first two notes of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody #2, widely known from Warner Brothers cartoons. A very short C sharp, followed by a held C sharp.

11

Unfortunately I can’t remember any off hand, but there are plenty of times when I have my ipod on random and I’ll know what a song is by the first note or first couple.

A proviso though - I’m sure the instrument, rhythm, and other characteristics of the way that note manifests itself are at least, if not more important, than the note itself. I often wonder how easy it would be if the note(s) was or were simply played on a piano…

12

Second point first: I’m sure all the attributes of the sound are at play when we can “spot the song” from the opening sound(s). Removing the specifics that got recorded and relying on just the pitch would provide such minimal information that that pitch could lead to thousands of pieces that begin that way. And if you remove the rhythmic component, any succession of several notes played with the same timing and spacing, would probably need more than three notes to suggest a particular piece. Beethoven’s symphonies ought to pass that simple test, though.

First point: What’s consistent about albums (vinyl LP’s mostly) I’ve listened to more than a dozen times is that I can start humming the next song on the album as the first one finishes. It’s like the whole side is remembered as a unit. And when I hear the piece played elsewhere than on the album I get a little surprise when the next tune is not the one I’m remembering from the album! I think Pink Floyd’s DSOTM is recorded with no breaks to accentuate this phenomenon.