The joke is supposed to be that he CAN count (in music) but can’t count in swimming. Trouble is, he CAN’T COUNT in music, either. More than a few mistakes there.
I remember singing a song or two in college that switched from 4/4 time to 5/4 (and 7/4!!!) time for a measure or two — definitely an odd, yet oddly effective, technique. And while I’ve never seen 3/8 or 9/8 time, I have seen 12/8 time before.
“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” theme (from Disney’s Fantasia) is a known tune composed in the rare 3/8 time. It is similar to counting in 3/4 time. The “Mission: Impossible” theme is a known tune composed in the rare 5/4 time. Not much outside of classical music for 9/8 time, a common one being J.S. Bach’s “Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring”.
Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Chichester Psalms’ is written in pretty much any tempo except 3/4, 4/4, or anything else remotely normal. When our church choir did it, I think I just went with the flow and didn’t really try to count it. For one thing, I was trying very hard to keep up with the phonetic Hebrew. It was a weird sort of fun, though.I thought maybe he was keeping time to various swimming strokes—or multiplying the number or feet or yards he’d done. . .
I can only keep an accurate count of my laps when I’m in a 50 metre pool. In a 25 metre pool I usually lose count past the 600 metre point. Meh, who cares. I just go for time rather than distance. An hour of swimming is an hour of swimming.
Never had the problem back in the 40s when I began playing flute. Professional lessons for years. However timing was a bear. Some music would change the timing like Frazz’s piano score. Then began playing tenor banjo in the 50’s. Finally learned timing when playing Dixieland with other instruments, & then late 5-string in folk music. Now at 80, mouse droppings on music are hard to read fast enough to manage tricky timing.
puddleglum10669/8 is use in both the hymn Blessed Assurance and Foster’s Beautiful Dreamer. Just don’t combine the words of the former with the tune of the latter – it makes it even more saccharine than the original.
Whenever I lose count, I just pick the highest number I’m sure of (which equals the lowest of the alternatives, in the case above it would be 1100). Then I can just say “at least 1000m”. Maybe it was 1150 but definitely 1000.
alviebird over 8 years ago
I’d hate to be his drummer.
Bilan over 8 years ago
1100+ lengths??? That’s over 15 miles!
Kind&Kinder over 8 years ago
I did countless laps. Simple.
nossmf over 8 years ago
“I stopped counting after the first lap.”“But you only did one lap!”“Like I said, I stopped counting after the first lap.”
David Wolfson Premium Member over 8 years ago
Jef makes a better effort to make music notation correct than any cartoonist since Charles Schultz. Still a couple of mistakes, though. Keep trying!
Spence12 Premium Member over 8 years ago
The joke is supposed to be that he CAN count (in music) but can’t count in swimming. Trouble is, he CAN’T COUNT in music, either. More than a few mistakes there.
kade82 over 8 years ago
I remember singing a song or two in college that switched from 4/4 time to 5/4 (and 7/4!!!) time for a measure or two — definitely an odd, yet oddly effective, technique. And while I’ve never seen 3/8 or 9/8 time, I have seen 12/8 time before.
Piper_13 Premium Member over 8 years ago
“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” theme (from Disney’s Fantasia) is a known tune composed in the rare 3/8 time. It is similar to counting in 3/4 time. The “Mission: Impossible” theme is a known tune composed in the rare 5/4 time. Not much outside of classical music for 9/8 time, a common one being J.S. Bach’s “Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring”.
Varnes over 8 years ago
How can their be written mistakes in music?….There are no rules anymore!…….The Dead did all kind of crazy things with rhythm…..Sounded great to me…..
atajayhawk over 8 years ago
Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Chichester Psalms’ is written in pretty much any tempo except 3/4, 4/4, or anything else remotely normal. When our church choir did it, I think I just went with the flow and didn’t really try to count it. For one thing, I was trying very hard to keep up with the phonetic Hebrew. It was a weird sort of fun, though.I thought maybe he was keeping time to various swimming strokes—or multiplying the number or feet or yards he’d done. . .
Nuliajuk over 8 years ago
I can only keep an accurate count of my laps when I’m in a 50 metre pool. In a 25 metre pool I usually lose count past the 600 metre point. Meh, who cares. I just go for time rather than distance. An hour of swimming is an hour of swimming.
Schrodinger's Dog over 8 years ago
maybe Frazz should have set his swimming regimen to music!
BenjyBoy over 8 years ago
From Dave Brubeck’s Time Out, there’s “Blue Rondo à la Turk” which has a 9/8 section.
Uncle Bob over 8 years ago
Take Five, Frazz…
scaeva Premium Member over 8 years ago
It all makes sense in hex …
Banjo Gordy Premium Member over 8 years ago
Never had the problem back in the 40s when I began playing flute. Professional lessons for years. However timing was a bear. Some music would change the timing like Frazz’s piano score. Then began playing tenor banjo in the 50’s. Finally learned timing when playing Dixieland with other instruments, & then late 5-string in folk music. Now at 80, mouse droppings on music are hard to read fast enough to manage tricky timing.
dgmiller over 8 years ago
Are any of these identifiable?
hippogriff over 8 years ago
puddleglum10669/8 is use in both the hymn Blessed Assurance and Foster’s Beautiful Dreamer. Just don’t combine the words of the former with the tune of the latter – it makes it even more saccharine than the original.
Susanne about 5 years ago
Whenever I lose count, I just pick the highest number I’m sure of (which equals the lowest of the alternatives, in the case above it would be 1100). Then I can just say “at least 1000m”. Maybe it was 1150 but definitely 1000.
DKHenderson 8 days ago
He should set his swimming strokes to music, then he could keep count.