#89158
12/09/2002 3:13 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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That thread having gone over the top;
While "my dog has fleas" may get your uke tuned relatively, when you step on to the concert stage and the concertmaster gives you her A, which string are you going to tune to match it? You tell me that and I'll buy "my dog has fleas" as a mnemonic.
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#89159
12/09/2002 4:28 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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You'd tune your first string to the "A" given by the violin, sing your little ol' flea song, and follow suit with the other three strings. Piece of cake.
If the conductor asked you to used the alternate tuning, you'd hear that A, pitch your first string a whole step lower, sing your little ol' flea song, and follow suit with the other three strings. Piece of cake.
The only problem would be finding out from the conductor whether you wanted the strings moving tuned to an A or a G. Both are used as the lowest string on the uke.
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#89160
12/09/2002 4:35 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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(moving my last post here for the sake of clarification) I knew it wasn't a pneumonic...but is there a term for a phrase that triggers memory without acronymic lettering then? And here's an interesting word tidbit on the ukelele: http://www.gryphonstrings.com/armstrong/doguke.html>The uke has always had a flea thing. Let's start with the name - uku meaning 'flea' and lele 'to dance.' And of course, everyone knows the one line hit song "My Dog Has Fleas." It is as catchy for its lyrics as it is useful for remembering how to tune your uke.< And click the above link to see a picture of a Poochalele!
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#89161
12/09/2002 4:46 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Given that the first string is normally the bottom string in the normal dextrocentric manner of holding the instrument (some levomanualists restring their axes but they'd really have to completley rebuild it due to the fudging of the bridge common among most fretted string instruments, but that's a whole nother story) you now have to tune your mnemonic backwards. Given "fleas" you have to backstep to "has fleas" and "dog has fleas before getting to "my dog has fleas". No, you need an entire nother mnemonic to tell you that the first string is an A and what if you have a baritone uke? You don't have an A string. On the concert (e.g., soprano) uke your mnenonic is telling you that the first string is an F and your third string (the C string) is a D. No, Juan is right. It's not a mnemonic. I don't even know why he brought it up.
I remember reading somewhere what the thang was with H being our B but I don't remember what it was. I'll race you to the google line.
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#89162
12/09/2002 5:10 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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No, Juan is right. It's not a mnemonic. I don't even know why he brought it up.Kills ya to agree with me, don't it, Faldage ol' buddy!?   Gotta temper it with a little tug...but, hey, that's okay! I brought it up because it is a memory triggering phrase similar to a mnemonic. So, again, is there a term for a phrase used to trigger memory that isn't a mnemonic?
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#89163
12/09/2002 5:34 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Kills ya to agree with me, don't it, Faldage ol' buddy!?Well, if you're gonna be that way about it, mebbe it is a mnemonic. See http://www.bartleby.com/61/76/M0357600.html. All it says is A device, such as a formula or rhyme, used as an aid in remembering.The lovely ASp knows a zillion of them that aren't in any way initialisms. Onliest one comes to my mind is "It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a Mozart." No wait, "Oh, Mozart's in the closet! Let him out! Let him out! Let him out!" both to tunes from Mozart pieces and used in what were once called drop the needle tests in music appreciation classes. In both these cases the tune is supposed to bring to mind the lyrics, which is liable to be the case with your flea-bitten dog, too. My mnemonic for remembering pi to 35 decimal places is also not an initialism. My two rats leap no jelly meal fopcap, my name for John Shar's mama famine kitchen police. Luzon Fifi... But it does use letters to connect to what I am trying to remember.
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#89164
12/09/2002 5:38 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Well, if you're gonna be that way about it, mebbe it is a mnemonic.I stand incorrected.....I think. 
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#89165
12/09/2002 6:01 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Faldage,
From your AWD link:
"A device, such as a formula or rhyme, used as an aid in remembering. "
My dog has fleas is a mnemonic device.
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#89166
12/09/2002 6:19 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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My dog has fleas is a mnemonic device.
What am I, minced birdseed?
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#89167
12/09/2002 6:55 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Faldage,
I just tuned three ukes very quickly.
I don't see what the problem is with using the mnemonic once you know the pitch you need for the first string. Mnemonics are not end-alls. They are most valuable when used with other knowledge. The little "my dog has fleas" tune by itself simply shows the intervalic relationship found on a uke. It also shows how other string instruments aren't necessarily tuned.
But once you know what kind of tuning you need for a ukelele--just a standard ukelele--the mnemonic will take you there. Sure, somebody'll have to provide your starting pitch, but, hey, that's if you want to play your ukulele with other instruments, like in the famous Miauudikovaritmostavretski Ukulele Concerto.
I have no idea why you don't think the flea and dog mnemonic isn't a mnemonic. It sure works for me and I have to tune up about 20 ukes at a sitting. A mnemonic is simply a device--it doesn't have to be a word-device. Some telephone numbers I recall my punching my fingers into the air in the pattern I use when punching the number at home. It's a mnemonic device I use fairly often--a kinetic tickler. And music is a fantastic device to stirring up the memory.
Edit: I just changed my spelling of ukulele. Thanks, Faldage!
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#89168
12/09/2002 7:07 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
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In reply to:
Given that the first string is normally the bottom string in the normal dextrocentric manner of holding the instrument
This brings up a point of contention. As a musician, I call the strings whose notes are the lowest on the scale (the bass notes) the "low strings" or the "bottom strings." But the "first string" is the highest (note) string. And I feel that I am in the majority, but I occasionally encounter a guitar player, etc who refers to those strings that are physically lower to the ground as the "low strings" or "bottom strings." Is there any regional trend to this or what?
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#89169
12/09/2002 7:37 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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the strings whose notes are the lowest on the scale (the bass notes) the "low strings" or the "bottom strings."
Certainly on a normal freted plucked string instrument constructed in the normal manner and being held in the normal position by a right handed player the string tuned to the highest pitch is physically closest to the floor and the string tuned to the lowest pitch is farthest from the floor. This is why I said the bottom string in the normal dextrocentric manner of holding the instrument. The pitch of any given string would, ignoring any Einsteinian gravitaional effects due to proximity to a large mass, be unaffected by the position in which the instrument was being held. Of course in the case of the ukulele, the top string (in pitch) is on the bottom (physically) but the bottom string is immediately above it. The top string (physically) is second from the bottom (in pitch) and the bottom string (in pitch) is second from the top (physically)
Faldage minced birdseed
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#89170
12/09/2002 9:39 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Now I might be mistaken. I only took two years of violin lessons as an adult beginner, but I believe that the strings of the violin: G D A E ...are strings: 1 2 3 4 If I'm incorrect in this belief, I would welcome being corrected. Back to ukulele. The ukelele is an interesting little instrument. You tune your dog that has fleas again from that first string on up to the fourth, but the first string has a higher pitch than the second string, and that's pretty cool considering how orchestral bowed strings are set up from lowest to highest. That's not how you tune 'em. You usually being with the A string on the violin (the 3rd string if my numbering system is correct), and then you immediately tune the perfect 5th, D plus A, or the 2nd and 3rd string. I usually tuned the G-D 5th next, and finished up with the upper 5th, A-E. No dog; no fleas; just perfect 5ths. But that ukulele is a cool little fellow. That first string is higher than the second; the first string is higher than the third string, too; but the fourth string is highest of all. Maryann Stuckmeyer taught me to tune a ukelele when I was only 13 years old, and she was 12. She taught me to play the Hawaiann War Dance or Love Song. I've forgotten which. And her very brief lesson has served me well these over 40 years. I taught my first graders how to sing 'My Dog Has Fleas"--and could play a string on the uke with their immediately singing back whether I was playing 'my' or 'dog' or 'has' or 'fleas.' They'll learn how to tune their own ukes by the end of January. Very simple process for the ones who can match pitch. A couple of things (at least a couple of things) in music are ordered from bottom up: The numbers of the lines and spaces go from bottom up rather than from top to bottom. We number the lines on a sheet of paper for quizzes and tests from top to bottom, but the music staff lines and spaces are numbered from bottom up. This can be confusing to kids unless you head 'em off at the pass and tell them, "Musicians number lines and spaces differently from how you number your test items." This helps the kids. 2. Chords. We build chords from bottom up before we start inverting them. But I suppose those two points are completely tangential. If I've got my violin strings backswards, please let me know...but I don't think so. Edit: And I changed the spelling here for ukulele. Again, thanks, Faldage. This week you've taught me to spell ukulele and AnnaS has taught me to spell Chanel.
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#89171
12/10/2002 3:02 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I didn't realize that the ukelele had its strings arranged in such an unusual tuning. Reminds me of the gears on a motorcycle or something (one down, four up, etc).
When I saw Paul McCartney he brought a ukelele which he said had been a gift from George Harrison, who had been a lover and collector of the instrument. He then went on to play George's song "Something" on the ukelele in a 1920's-1930's style. The song translated well to that style of playing.
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#89172
12/10/2002 3:18 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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For me the exquisite quintessence of uke music, ably paired with an unmistakeable falsetto (eat your hearts out, countertenors!), is Tiny Tim's Tiptoe Through the Tulips.Scroll down to Disc 2, Track 11: http://www.mymusic.com/product.asp?muzenbr=434122&myptr=mhsresearch
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#89173
12/10/2002 3:43 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Two points:
1) Once when I offered My Dog Has Fleas, I received in return Your Dog Has Lice, which were the same notes but in the opposite order. I can sing 'em to you but not name 'em without having to think, which probably means something deep but in any case it suggests that the order is arbitrary, and neither mnemonic is "right."
2) The first (read "highest-pitched") four strings on the guitar, as it turns out, are the same as the uke strings except that the fourth string is an octave lower. BUT. That's only the "standard" guitar tuning. There are numerous other tunings (D tuning: drop the low E string ("sixth string") to a D; E tuning: raise the fourth and fifth strings a full tone and the third string a half-tone) I think. The five-string banjo has its own variations, too: C tuning ==> G tuning by dropping the lowest string a whole tone, for example.
Mnemonics are good for learning and we remember them fondly, but after a while they aren't needed any more. a bit like Puff the Magic Dragon...
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#89174
12/10/2002 8:17 PM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 56
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Sep 2000
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i think i've missed the pitch of this thread. Can somebody please explain to me, at which point does a string becomes a thread?
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#89175
12/11/2002 12:31 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
When it becomes long and attenuated ...
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