Most of these are "teaching" songs of one kind or another.
Inchworm taught me the binary system (at the age of three): apparently the schoolmaster was wiser than Hans in that I (an actual child) focussed on the repetitious chorus hymmning the powers of two, and totally disregarded the anti-left-brain verse.
"This Diamond Ring" is simply the pentatonic minor (or "blues") scale, slightly embellished to make a song.
"Ride a White Swan" is straight 4/4 time, with such a great carrier pulse, that the fantastical lyrics and Woody Guthrie-style melody seem like vines growing up beanpoles. (Also patter singing, which it in ways resembles, is a great challenge for voice and memory.)
"Tighten Up" and "Tasty" are a Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra applied to rock and classic R&B. Anyone who doubts the utility of this (as opposed to the more traditional piece) should reflect that it doesn't make much sense to be able to say all the conventional things about classical music if you can't apply what you know to any piece of music you hear, not just "good" music.
"Sancte Iohannes"-- well, after "This Diamond Ring", I couldn't help but include the original mnemonic for the major scale. "Doe, A Deer" just can't hold a candle to it.
I'll probably think of more.
Most of these are "teaching" songs of one kind or another.
Inchworm taught me the binary system (at the age of three): apparently the schoolmaster was wiser than Hans in that I (an actual child) focussed on the repetitious chorus hymmning the powers of two, and totally disregarded the anti-left-brain verse.
"This Diamond Ring" is simply the pentatonic minor (or "blues") scale, slightly embellished to make a song.
"Ride a White Swan" is straight 4/4 time, with such a great carrier pulse, that the fantastical lyrics and Woody Guthrie-style melody seem like vines growing up beanpoles. (Also patter singing, which it in ways resembles, is a great challenge for voice and memory.)
"Tighten Up" and "Tasty" are a Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra applied to rock and classic R&B. Anyone who doubts the utility of this (as opposed to the more traditional piece) should reflect that it doesn't make much sense to be able to say all the conventional things about classical music if you can't apply what you know to any piece of music you hear, not just "good" music.
"Sancte Iohannes"-- well, after "This Diamond Ring", I couldn't help but include the original mnemonic for the major scale. "Doe, A Deer" just can't hold a candle to it.
I'll probably think of more.