I'm looking for a simple ID of a classical piece of music. The peice
is played out of a jam by the Grateful Dead, so I don't know what it's
called.

Dead music is freely available, so the song, "New Potato Caboose" can
be found at: http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=12858
It's available in ogg, 2 bitrates of mp3, and shn.

The Jam comes in at 5:25, initiated by the bass player. It's a fast
couple of notes on bass, with a few chords played over that.

It's sounds very familiar, but I don't know what it is. I've asked
around in some forums, and heard it is possibly Chopin's "Minute
Waltz", or Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", but all of the
recorded versions of those pieces I have heard don't really sound the
same. If you feel strongly that it is either of those pieces, please
cite the recording. Thanks.

---

Clarification of Question by nosaj-ga on 30 Aug 2004 20:44 PDT

Thanks for the info so far! I would have never thought to look into
big bad/latin music...  Oh, and thanks alot for the chord info. I
really just want to learn how to play that jam... So, if you have any
more details on what's being played, how you began to answer the
question, etc. I'd say you supplied me with a good answer. Of course,
any other titles you think this may have been derived from would be
appreciated. Thanks a bunch!

nosaj --

This strikes me as one of those questions for which a definitive
answer is impossible, but it sure is interesting.

The repeated chords played behind the guitar riff throughout the
episode are a basic two-measure D major cadence that goes D-A7-D, with
some interesting syncopation in the move from D to A7.  It doesn't
strike me as being derived from any one well-known source (classical
or otherwise), but others may have a different idea about that.

I do find that the guitar riff that is played over the chords is a
close cousin of the catchy initial theme of -- get this -- a Perez
Prado mambo hit from the 50s called "Patricia."  I have tried to find
an audio clip of that song that focuses on that particular theme, and
I did come up with this one at the All Music Guide site (track 33):

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47E1FD84BAC7F20C985354BC1BA60FD07FE44F78F172C0456D3B82D6C872941D779A29181B9E576B466ADFF2EA0160ED2C0EB50F6DE6F2D4CF0&sql=10:47d5vwria92k

I don't know if you will be able to access this directly if you
haven't register with that site, though.

If you have difficulty accessing that site, here is a link to another
clip that begins with the last phrase of that theme but then moves on
to the other main theme of the song(track 2):

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?userid=e8677Hx908&ean=99442101321

In the meantime, I will continue to think about this fun question.  I
don't think that either the "Minute Waltz" or "Jesu, Joy of Man's
Desiring" are what you are looking for, though.

markj-ga

If that All Music Guide page won't open for you, here is another
source for a clip that focuses on the theme I have in mind as the
inspiration for the guitar riff:

http://songs.allofmp3.com/mcatalog.shtml?group=12898&album=1&albref=7

nosaj--

I may not have the world's most educated ear, but I know those two
pieces and a lot of other classical music well enough to recognize
many selections from just two or three notes in context (like a fast
on-and-off of the radio when set to a classical station).  I listened
to your Dead number, and I did not detect any classical quotation or
allusion that I recognized, and certainly not either of those named
pieces.

Archae0pteryx

You could find many songs to match that 2-chord progression. If I had
to give a popular "classical" song it's similar to, I'd say
chopsticks!

Check out Track13.mp3 at:
http://www.x5ca.net/~drane/wmb/records.htm