tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25614437.post9214903174752858634..comments2014-08-04T18:12:12.424-04:00Comments on Hawthorn Thistleberry: The universal particle of Christmas musicHawthorn Thistleberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00358395505794303985noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25614437.post-73745227605981221352010-12-18T16:37:02.518-05:002010-12-18T16:37:02.518-05:00One realization occurred to me that might be part ...One realization occurred to me that might be part of the answer. Jingle Bells, like the vast majority of popular music, is in 4/4 time, but a surprisingly large number of Christmas songs are in 3/4 time. Perhaps if you took a list of Christmas songs you might want to quote into a 4/4 song and crossed off all the 3/4 songs, of what was left, Jingle Bells would be an obvious winner in terms of having a very easily recognized but brief melody, because all the other easily recognized, brief melodies were in 3/4 time. (For instance, the melody of Carol of the Bells is just as Christmasy, just as brief, and just as distinctive, but in 3/4, so not suitable for quoting in a 4/4 song.)Hawthorn Thistleberryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00358395505794303985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25614437.post-74843980337815303862010-12-18T13:18:29.359-05:002010-12-18T13:18:29.359-05:00For me, Jingle Bells was one of the easiest songs ...For me, Jingle Bells was one of the easiest songs to sing and remember as a kid, and we loved to parody it. Not sure how much inspired by Christmas it actually was. But now I hear it -all- the time (that sequence of notes) and it's annoying.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25614437.post-21666052885340517842010-12-14T10:31:49.243-05:002010-12-14T10:31:49.243-05:00I think it's the bells!I think it's the bells!Siobhan Perriconenoreply@blogger.com