Decades ago there was a game show called “Name That Tune”. It asked contestants to listen to a “house orchestra” play a few notes from a popular song and, as the title says, “name that tune.” I guess that might be a lot easier than Joey Fatone’s “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” or Wayne Brady’s “The Singing Bee,” but there was always the final round where contestants challenged each other to identify a song in the fewest number of notes. And I saw people actually identify a song with only two notes to go on.
Actually, I’m surprised to see the newest music shows. With the growing media and music choices you wonder how there could still be a common pool of songs, books, movies, TV shows, etc. that a culture at large is familiar with. And yet there it is. Oh, I’m not about to analyze it all scientifically here, but I suspect that even as a diverse culture and even with our growing tendency to customize and personalize our immediate environment, I think that we still have a need to be a part of the group as a whole. What do you think?
