# That stereotypical Western music

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-stereotypical-western-music/104601>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 19, 2002, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-stereotypical-western-music/104601 "2002-04-19T23:33:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![TOO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@TOO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TOO)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-stereotypical-western-music/104601/1 "2002-04-19T23:33:43Z")

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I was watching Pete and Pete on whatever horrible network they’ve imprisoned it on a few days ago. They played that stereotypical Western movie music. The kind with the tumbleweed rolling down the street just before the gunfight. It’s instantly recognizable as what it is. I wish I remebered it better, but I’m hoping that you guys can fill in the gaps

What is the song I’m thinking of (if it is a specific song)?  
If not, what would be a good example of that style?

I really would like to download that song. I’m not sure why.

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**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-stereotypical-western-music/104601/2 "2002-04-20T00:06:19Z")

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Well, this is just my guess, but I always think of Ennio Morricone’s theme from _The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly_ when I think of western movie music. You can check it out here:

[http://www.morricone.de/sound.htm](http://www.morricone.de/sound.htm)

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**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-stereotypical-western-music/104601/3 "2002-04-20T00:22:02Z")

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Probably the most seminal piece of western music is Jerome Moross’ score for the 1958 film _ **The Big Country** _. There were other composers who scored westerns regularly before that, most notably Dimitri Tiomkin (_High Noon, Red River_) and Victor Young (_Shane, Johnny Guitar_), but Moross’ Copland-esque score pretty much set the template for what we’re conditioned to have western music sound like, and was heavily influential on Elmer Bernstein’s more famous music for _The Magnificent Seven_.