This melody from Hide ‘n’ Go Seek is a Minor Third interval. There are three musical steps between the notes C (Olly Olly Ox) and the A (-en Free). It is the third smallest interval, behind the semitone and the wholetone.

     Nobody knows what the phrase originates from, but the melody is typical of playground melodies. For instance, Nana Poo Poo is also a Minor Third.

     Olly Olly belongs to the C Major Pentatonic scale and jumps from the Root (C) to the Minor Six (A). You can play it below by hitting the last two notes backwards.

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     The Minor Third sounds like this:

     Out there on the playground, melodies have a little legroom. Some kids might sing Minor Thirds, and others will sing Whole Tones. And certain little bastards will only sing semitones.

     The Minor Third is more of a child’s interval. Children are naturally melodic, and speak and sing freely in giant steps. But by the time they start playing “Butt’s Up”, they can barely muster a Whole Tone. Their intervals continue to flatten until they are a typical monotone adult.
     Or maybe the Minor Third is just too wide an interval to sing when you’re butt’s about to go up.

     It’s likely that “Relay”, “Challenge”, “Farted On”, and “Not It”, were inspired by “Nanny Nanny Poo Poo”, the most popular playground melody, which is actually a parody of “Ring around the Rosie”, a song going back to the 18th century.

     COMING SOON: Olly Olly Oxen Free!

     
     
     When a ball lands out of bounds, the player who fetches it can sing a “Relay” to beseech her fellow players to cut off her throw to the wall. A “Challenge” is sung by the other players to deny her “Relay” request. Both figures cover the interval of a Minor Third from G to E.

     The dis below can be used in just about any schoolyard game or life situation.

     ”Farted On” is also a Minor Third. It’s a little more mature version of “Nana Nana Poo Poo” although the melody is practically the same, and both have a swung rhythm. “Farted On” is usually preceded by a falling “Ohhhhhhhhh!”. You don’t wanna be on the receiving end of one of those.

     ”Into” is short for interference. An “Into” is sung when a ball hits an object out of play. It is identical in melody and rhythm to a “Not It”, at a slower tempo.

     In the previous post, I wrote that these playground melodies were in C Major Pentatonic, because they originate from “Ring around the Rosie”, a Major folk song. But now I’m thinking that out there on the blacktop, these figures take on a new tonality – the very closely related E Minor Pentatonic. The E acts as a resolution in all of these melodies.

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     Know who else likes E Pentatonic?
     Jimi Fuckin’ Hendrix!
     Try jammin’ along with some Nanapoops, Not It’s, Into’s, and Farted On’s.

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     This here mocking melody has many variations – neeners, nahs, and ners. It is sung to the tune of Ring around the Rosie. The dominant interval is a Minor Third, between the G (poo) and the E (poo).

     The following 2 note melody is delivered in rounds right before a game of Freeze Tag. The interval is a Whole Tone, between the E and D.
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     Both Nana Nana Poo Poo and Not It belong to the key C Major Pentatonic (5 note scale).

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     It is a happy key, for there are no semitones to create tension and longing. Most lullabies and folk diddies are in Major Pentatonic.

     COMING SOON: More playground songs like “Relay”, “Challenge”, and “Farted On.”