Please Identify This Tune

[maketrax]

There is a family piano tune that has been passed down a few generations. Now my daughter plays it (much better than any family member I can remember  ) and she wants to know the name of it.

We do not know the name. No one in the family knows it. All they know is that they were taught it as a child and this has gone on for 50+ years.

The only clue I have is that it was used as the opening tune for an 80s arcade video game. You can hear it here:

https://youtu.be/ZmP9rRb6DDY?t=6

So can anyone identify it?

[thalbergmad]

I know it and so will a million others, but not sure it even has a name.

Thal

[themeandvariation]

sounds like a hyped and slightly tweaked version of the (inextinguishable) 'hot crossed buns'… it's right up there in popularity with the (indomitable) 'chop sticks', and to slightly lesser extent, 'heart and soul' duet/loop,  (30 second version) , which is usually looped for at least 15 minutes - which usually follows when the other two are played..  

next stop: The first 2 lines of Fur Elise

[tinyking12345]

It kind of sounds like chopsticks...

[maketrax]

Hmm, most people we ask say it's Chopsticks but I don't think it does sound like it. It is more of a German oompah type song.

I have attached a live recording made this morning by my 8yo!

[Bob]

I think it's got a name.  I vaguely remember reading through actual music of that, realizing what I what I was playing.

[schubert960]

Sounds an awful lot like this at the beginning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhAzQzm4m9Q

Could very well be not what you're looking for, though.

Edit: Just noticed your recording, it's obviously not this. Your video game thing sounds like this, but not your recording. I always knew the tune you posted as "Chopsticks."

[maketrax]

I have an answer for this now.

A kid in school said it was "Beyer No. 8"

Checking that it is the song, and looks to be a collection of Ferdinand Beyer (1803 - 1863). However, some resources say he did not actually compose it?

Further reading states that it is known in different countries such as Germany: Der Flohwalzer - The Flea Waltz. That then leads onto this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Flohwalzer

and that describes it as Flea Waltz in most countries but Russia it is Dog Waltz, Bulgaria Cat March, Hungary Donkey March, Czech is Pig Waltz and Japan is Flea Waltz (I Stepped On The Cat).

Waltz is a misnomer:

"While the German name suggests a waltz, the piece is not one, as it has 2/4 time signature. A waltz is always in triple meter, with a time signature such as 3/4 or 3/8. The 2/4 time signature suggests a polka, but it can also be played as a march."

As for the true composer:

"The composer is unknown. A book by Eric Baumann attributes the piece to Ferdinand Loh, but this is obviously a joke (F. Loh = Floh—“flea” in German)."

[Bob]

I have an answer for this now.

A kid in school said it was "Beyer No. 8"

Checking that it is the song, and looks to be a collection of Ferdinand Beyer (1803 - 1863). However, some resources say he did not actually compose it?

Further reading states that it is known in different countries such as Germany: Der Flohwalzer - The Flea Waltz. That then leads onto this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Flohwalzer

and that describes it as Flea Waltz in most countries but Russia it is Dog Waltz, Bulgaria Cat March, Hungary Donkey March, Czech is Pig Waltz and Japan is Flea Waltz (I Stepped On The Cat).

Waltz is a misnomer:

"While the German name suggests a waltz, the piece is not one, as it has 2/4 time signature. A waltz is always in triple meter, with a time signature such as 3/4 or 3/8. The 2/4 time signature suggests a polka, but it can also be played as a march."

As for the true composer:

"The composer is unknown. A book by Eric Baumann attributes the piece to Ferdinand Loh, but this is obviously a joke (F. Loh = Floh—“flea” in German)."

Bravo.  I knew I'd seen this before in method books.