4

I remember hearing about a 3 or 5 note sequence that is in many popular songs like Frozen's Let it Go or Katy Perry's Fireworks. Supposedly your brain eats it up like sugar.

Is there a name for what I am describing?

Kosmos
  • 151
  • 3
  • Can you provide a link to an exact moment in a song that has that sequence? YouTube link with timestamp, maybe? – dizzwave Nov 29 '16 at 20:20

2 Answers2

3

This is called an earworm. I'm not aware of one specific musical meme that dominates all others --if there was just one, I'm sure we'd all know it by heart --but the article referenced above describes some of the common characteristics of successful earworms.

The general idea of there being some particular musical figure of particular power is well-established in popular culture. One example is the "secret chord" of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" (really a progression, IV, V, vi, IV), and its predecessor, the "Lost Chord".

Chris Sunami
  • 15,598
  • 2
  • 20
  • 64
3

You may be thinking of the recently-named (and stupidly so) "millenial whoop." It's not a 3- or 5-note sequence, but rather an alternation between the 3rd and 5th notes of the scale.

(Here is a similar link.)

It's not a new thing; it's been in music for decades now. But some bozo must have decided that calling it "millenial" something would probably get more clicks.

Richard
  • 2,000
  • 2
  • 11
  • 25