you've heard this sort of thing before. You've heard this sort of thing before. You've heard this sort of thing; it might be something that you sing. Before, before, before.
If you grew up in the United States in the twentieth century, you would have had a difficult time avoiding it entirely. It has a long historical reach in America, and perhaps some appreciable global resonance as well. Nicholas Stoia also figures that you've heard it, and that, like me, you had it somewhere in your head but didn't have a name for it. His book, Sweet Thing: The History and Musical Structure of a Shared American Vernacular Form, conclusively demonstrates that “it” is indeed a thing. Invoking a term that will be familiar to contemporary music theorists, he labels it the “Sweet Thing” scheme, and his book takes us along on a treasure hunt for it. Pirates...
