You want âOrientalâ? Just play the black keys. Learned that 65 years ago.
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pentatonic scale!
I liked cycling through the chords G-flat, E-flat minor, C-flat, D-flat. People who donât know how to play piano, even young children, if they have a decent sense of rhythm can play a melody that sounds good if they just stick to the black notes.
Instant musician.
It also came up in one of my all-time favorite mefi threads (because I started it 
)
Man, that song⊠Itâs so offensive, yet so catchy.
Some WW2 John Wayne movie had him fighting the Japanese, and every time an American got sniped or bayoneted, they played that riff. It was fairly annoying.
I wonder if Gilbert & Sullivan started the trend? The Mikado definitely plays to this trope.
Also, the stereotyped âMiddle Easternâ melody (âthe snake charmer songâ) was published by Sol Bloom in 1893 as âThe Streets of Cairoâ. Bloom, it should be noted, was not from the Middle East.
AKA âthereâs a place in France where the ladies wear no pantsâ
Donât bother asking at a travel agency (if you can find one); theyâll just throw you out.
pfft, tell me about it
B^]
Unrelated, but on a cool decidedly asian music riff, check out these brothers (literally):
Now Iâm wondering about the origins of the seven note riff used to indicate native americansâŠ
As opposed to Misirlou, the tune of which is from Asia Minor but which we now associate with Souther California because of Dick Dale http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIU0RMV_II8
That is a great tune. The Kronos Quartet does a wonderful version of it on their album âCaravanâ. I didnât know that was an actual folk melody.
I like how after they wrote, they instantly knew it would turn them into a one hit wonder and deliberately stalled on releasing it as a single. Didnât seem to help much.
No surprise there!
âThe Orientâ is an entirely Western creation. Maybe it was Said who said that?
