Shave and a haircut

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"Shave and a Haircut" in C major .
The melody consists of the notes CGGAG HC. In a variation on this melody, the second and third notes are replaced by a triplet , with the middle a semitone lower, and the fourth note flattened.
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"Shave and a Haircut" in G major with and without chords .
Listen: Ogg ? / i | Midi ? / i Listening with chords: Ogg ? / i | Midi ? / i .Audio file / audio sample Audio file / audio sample
Audio file / audio sample Audio file / audio sample

Shave and a Haircut and the associated response two bits is a musical call and response pattern made up of seven tones, in which the call is followed by a response. The tone sequence is often used at the end of a musical performance and is used for effects in the comic and animation field as a melody or rhythm (e.g. when knocking on the door).

The answer “two bits” is an archaism in the United States for the quarter or 25 cents. The term six bits is also used occasionally . The final words can include get lost , drop deep (in Australia ) or some other funny expression. In Great Britain the term five bob is often used as a slang for five shillings . Words are typically rarely used to accompany a rhythm or melody.

history

The tone sequence first appeared in the song At a Darktown Cakewalk by Charles Hale in 1899 . In addition to other uses during this time, HA Fischler also used the melody as a bridge in his song Hot Scotch Rag in 1911 .

Billy Murray used the sequence at the beginning and end of the song On the 5:15 with the American Quartet . Joel Sayre wrote in his 1933 novel Hizzoner the Mayor of Boats that played the official welcome anthem of Malta in Tempo Shave and a Haircut . This was then soon adopted by all steamers in the port, so that it is assumed that the melody was already given a meaning at this time.

Dan Shapiro, Lester Lee and Milton Berle used the tone sequence as a conclusion to Shave and a Haircut - Shampoo in 1939 .

Other uses

The seven - note melody can be heard among other things on multi-tone car horns, which are not permitted in Germany according to § 55 StVZO . It is also used as a rhythm when knocking on the door or as a Morse code at the end of an amateur radio conversation dah-di-di-dah-di, di-dit ( - ·· - · ·· ).

US Navy sailor and former prisoner of war Doug Hegdahl reports that US prisoners in the Vietnam War checked the US identity of a new prisoner by tapping the first five tones of Shave and a Haircut against the cell wall. If the expected answer was given, the prisoners could safely communicate with one another using the square alphabet code.

This melody has been used countless times as a coda or as a conclusion to pieces of music. Often used on a five-string banjo in bluegrass . The American musician Earl Scruggs often ended his songs with this or a variation of this movement. In the television series The Beverly Hillbillies , this tone sequence often heralded the commercial break. In bluegrass, this melody is the most frequently used run after the G run .

Shave and a Haircut was widely used in cartoons . This sequence of sounds was used in a variety of ways, particularly in the Looney Tunes series. This ranged from car horns to shutters that rattled in the wind. This melody was also heard after the end credits of the individual episodes.

In the film Wrong Game with Roger Rabbit , Judge Doom, who acted as the strongest opponent of the cartoon characters (toons) living with humans, tried to use this call and response pattern to discover the toons in their safe homes. He assumed that the toons won't refuse to answer once they hear the opening rhythm.

The melody was also used in traditional music and film productions.

Billy Jones and Ernest Hare used the tone sequence in 1920 to conclude their novelty song That’s a Lot of Bunk . The performers became known under the name The Happiness Boys .

In the film O-Kay for Sound by The Crazy Gang in 1937, the question How's your father? answered with goodbye .

In the songs Country Boy from 1950 and the original version of My Ding-A-Ling , which was released two years later, R&B singer and band leader Dave Bartholomew used the melody as the opening pattern for each verse.

The American guitarist Les Paul and the singer Mary Ford released the song Magic Melody on the Capitol Records label , which ended with the first five notes of Shave and a haircut . Due to the complaints of the disk jockeys , Capitol Records released a single entitled Magic Melody Part 2 in 1955 , which consists of only the two missing notes and is considered the shortest song ever released.

PDQ Bach ended his bluegrass aria with a Denglish pun in which he sang “Shaving and hair cutting, two please ”. For people who speak English and German, it sounds like the originally sung “Shave and a haircut - two cents ". The melody is also used in The Short-Tempered Clavier .

In addition, this tone sequence was used in the song Gee, Officer Krupke of the musical West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein, the 1995 original version of Love and Marrige by Frank Sinatra , the Unsquare Dance published in 1961 by Dave Brubeck and in Everything About You by Ugly Kid Joe , who released this song in 1992. The theme song of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson also closes with these notes.

The Canadian reporter and musician Nardwuar the Human Napkin ended every interview with this melody. Nardwuar sings “doot doot da loot do” and the interviewee should answer with “doot doo”.

International uses

In Mexico the melody is used as an insult with the rhythmically similar sentence chinga tu madre, cabrón . The phrase used by Italians , Ammazza la vecchia… col Flit! (! Kill the old woman ... with the Flit) requests to a homicide with a Dichlordiphenyltrichlorethan - insecticide on. This is a humorous and well-known version of a post-WWII commercial with the text Ammazza la mosca… col Flit (It kills the fly… with Flit). It is amazing that this version is only seen as a joke and not as an insult.

In the Canadian province of Quebec , this melody is often used by children to describe them with the text Chip chocolat gomme, Peanut! (Chocolate gum, peanut!) To ask for silence. In the Catalan language , the text becomes Nas de barraca. Sant Boi . Cinc de carmelos pel noi (English: Shack nose. Sant Boi. Five candies for the boy) used to create a pattern that sounds like knocking on a door. In Spain the text Una copita ... de Ojén (A small glass ... from Ojén) is sung.

In the Irish pubs , some songs end with this melody. The singer sings the first part How is your aul 'one? , where aul 'one is slang for mother . The audience replies with Gameball , which means Ah-OK.

In Sweden the text Kvart över elva… halv tolv (quarter past eleven… half past eleven) is sung. In English, the answer text does not match melody, since halv tolv (half past eleven ) corresponds exactly to the two tones and with half past eleven there are a total of five syllables . The Swedish confectionery brand also used the melody in advertising. The slogan was Hälsan för halsen - Bronzol (health for the throat - Bronzol).

In Iceland , the text gives instructions for eating Saltkjöt og baunir… túkall (chewing meat with salt and beans…). The Dutch use this melody when a fellow citizen wants to emigrate: Die zien we nooit meer… te-rug (We will never see you again.) It is used to make fun of someone who is moving away.

The Argentine Carlos Balá, a former presenter in the children's television program, hummed the call part and animated the children to answer Ba-lá (ball, bullet) in the rhythm of two bits .

Further information

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Happy Traum: Bluegrass Guitar . Oak Publications, 1992, ISBN 978-0-8256-0153-8 , pp. 26 .
  2. ↑ James Fuld: The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk. 5th edition. Dover Publications, New York 2000, ISBN 978-0-486-41475-1 , pp. 495 ( google.de [accessed April 6, 2019]).
  3. ↑ Ragtime Dorian Henry: Hot Scotch Rag by Harry Fischler (1911, Ragtime piano). March 13, 2018, accessed April 6, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Shawn Eng: On the 5 15 by the American Quartet. August 1, 2013, accessed April 6, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Joel Sayre: Hizzoner the Mayor: A Novel . John Day Company, New York 1933, ISBN 978-0-88435-005-7 , pp. 28-29 .
  6. ^ Catchy Tune Central - audible viruses. September 14, 1998, archived from the original on June 12, 2010 ; accessed on April 6, 2019 .
  7. ↑ § 55 StVZO - single standard. Retrieved April 6, 2019 .
  8. ^ A b Carl Franz, Lorena Havens: The People's Guide to Mexico . 2006, ISBN 1-56691-711-5 , pp. 319 .
  9. ^ A b Gustavo Arellano: Ask a Mexican . Scribner , 2008, ISBN 1-4165-4003-2 , pp. 26 .
  10. ↑ Chuck Thompson: Hellholes and Back: Bribes, Lies, and the Art of Extreme Tourism . Holt Paperbacks, 2009, ISBN 0-8050-8788-5 , p. 220 .
  11. ^ John Stanton: In Mexico City Traffic is Terrific . In: LIFE . Time, Inc., September 20, 1948.
  12. ↑ ThomasKing: Modern Morse Code in Rehabilitation and Education . Allyn & Bacon, 1999, ISBN 0-205-28751-4 , pp. 77 .
  13. ^ Ernest C. Brace: Messages From John. In: The Wall Street Journal. May 2, 2008, archived from the original on October 16, 2008 ; accessed on April 6, 2019 .
  14. ^ Quotes from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". Retrieved April 7, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Crazy Gang: O-Kay for Sound. Retrieved April 7, 2019 (download of the 1937 film "O-Kay for Sound").
  16. ↑ Bartholomew, Dave, "The King Sides" Collectables (CD) 2883, 2004
  17. ↑ Barry Cleveland: It Happened This Month. OnStageMag.com, archived from the original on May 27, 2009 ; accessed on November 26, 2008 (English).
  18. ↑ PDQ Bach: Cantata “Blue Grass”. Retrieved April 8, 2019 .
  19. ^ The Key of PDQ. Retrieved April 8, 2019 .
  20. ↑ Chuck Thompson: To hellholes and back: bribes, lies, and the art of extreme tourism . Melia, New York 2010, ISBN 978-0-8050-8788-8 , pp. 220 .
  21. ^ AB Gerrard: Cassell's colloquial spanish . 3. Edition. 1980, p. 60 (Spanish).
  22. ↑ Obtenir le silence. In: Services de Garde. Retrieved April 8, 2019 (fr-fr).
  23. ↑ PROVERBIS, DITES I FRASES FETES DE BLANES. December 1999, accessed April 8, 2019 .
  24. ↑ Finnegan's Wake lyrics and chords by The Dubliners. Retrieved April 8, 2019 .