The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #55271 Message #859247
Posted By: Uncle_DaveO
05-Jan-03 - 01:10 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Oh, Had I a Golden Thread (Seeger)
Subject: RE: Origins: OH, HAD I A GOLDEN THREAD
At Banjo Camp North, Peggy Seeger told me ( I THINK with a twinkle in her eye) that there were only eight tunes.
I said something like, "Yeah, and there are only five novel plots, too! Only by picking out extremely generalized plot elements."
She said, "You don't believe that?"
"I sure don't!"
Reminds me of some famous playwright's description of the plot of the ideal three-act play: Act one: Chase your hero up a tree Act two: Throw rocks at him Act three: Get him down from the tree
On that level, maybe there are only four (or eight) tunes. I'll describe one: State theme Elaborate theme Restate theme On that level, maybe!