Can you listen to these two clips and weigh in, please?

[Todd Pertll]

This song came on the other day and the opening phrase sounded so familiar.

https://youtu.be/p2SZTvop32A?si=yKnhUeT3J04dJ58t

It bugged me for days and then it finally hit me.

https://youtu.be/aqGPoQZ8p94?si=8VfM-lGLbyeRqt49

Now I'm kind of obsessed with trying to figure out if it's just a coincidence or if Herb Remington and Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou (an Ethiopian nun composer/piano player) were somehow aware of each others music.

Maybe someone with better ears than me can chime in?

[Fred Treece]

My guess is that it’s kinda like seeing a cloud shaped like Godzilla.

[Ricky Davis]

It's a diminished scale in triads.
Find the first 3 notes(I play 4 different non-pedal tunings so can't really tell you where to find those notes on your particular tuning); then play those 3 note string combo four times going up in Triad frets(3 frets a time) then hit the 5 chord close to last triad and rake with thumb....yeeeehaaaa.
Ricky

[Todd Pertll]

It's a diminished scale in triads.
Find the first 3 notes(I play 4 different non-pedal tunings so can't really tell you where to find those notes on your particular tuning); then play those 3 note string combo four times going up in Triad frets(3 frets a time) then hit the 5 chord close to last triad and rake with thumb....yeeeehaaaa.
Ricky

Thanks Ricky,

I was more trying to see if anyone thought the two sounded similar enough that one may have copied it from the other.

[Franklin]

Todd,

When musicians who have never met play the same thing its always due to their understanding of basic theory...All both players needed was "street" knowledge. They both used the same theory tools to create a composition.

Arpeggio...pick the notes of a chord individually instead of playing those intervals all at once which is how chords are typically played.

Inversion... we are listening to a major chord in both clips. How to invert triads ...For example.... C E G is the 1st or root inversion for C major..E G C is the 2nd inversion...G C E is the third inversion...Its the same chord no matter what arpeggio pattern is chosen.

In these clips two things are happening drawn from theory...Both musicians are inverting the major chord triads... they ascend downward using Backward Roll arpeggios through the ascending major chord inversions

In both clips...The notes have a descending sound as they ascend thru the major chord inversions...

My favorite Chet Atkins quote..."There is nothing new, everything is borrowed"..."Street" theory as the foundation really does improve how we play.

Paul

[Ricky Davis]

Thanks Ricky,

I was more trying to see if anyone thought the two sounded similar enough that one may have copied it from the other.

Sorry Todd; I was only trying to explain the intro to "Boot Heel Drag" Tommy Morrell taught me how to play it; but also left out the continued open note..ha....
But I LOVE Paul's explanation of how things created can sound very familiar to another>
"THEORY TOOLS">
That right there is how I come up with all my creations; by using the "Street Theory's" I've learned and continue to use to create...ah..ha.
Ricky

[Jeff Peterson]

The real beauty of that song to Herb, from the horses mouth, was that it got on the flip-side of 'Faded Love' which sold so many copies that even at a 1/4 cent per record enabled Herb to continue on to be the fabulous player/teacher, and truly one of the best men I have ever met..secure enough to buy a home, and as he puts it, keep his wife happy for many years. In Houston, when I was livin' on the light side, he made a new Emmons p/p affordable to me(and my family) when I really needed it. He was a true gentleman and serious musician who has influenced my entire career...and life. Bless him, sincerely.
Also, just loved Boot Heel Drag.

[Mike Neer]

This song came on the other day and the opening phrase sounded so familiar.

https://youtu.be/p2SZTvop32A?si=yKnhUeT3J04dJ58t

It bugged me for days and then it finally hit me.

https://youtu.be/aqGPoQZ8p94?si=8VfM-lGLbyeRqt49

Now I'm kind of obsessed with trying to figure out if it's just a coincidence or if Herb Remington and Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou (an Ethiopian nun composer/piano player) were somehow aware of each others music.

Maybe someone with better ears than me can chime in?

The open string run Herb played on that recording is from old Hawaiian steel players. I wish I could name specific recordings right now but they elude me. These go all the way back to the pre-electric era. Of course, we know of Herb’s fondness for Hawaiian playing.

[Dave Ristrim]

What Paul said and the Chet quote is spot on. There are only 12 notes in the chromatic scale. It amazing what musicians throughout history have done with those 12 notes. Of course, then you have microtonal music which opens up a whole other can of worms.
Peace out

[Fred Treece]

All due respect to Chet, he may have borrowed that line himself, from the Book Of Ecclesiastes: “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun”.

I think we have to write some things off as pure coincidence, given the unlikelihood of anything else. I agree with Mike Neer, that the lick that Herb created for that intro is probably due to his affinity for trad Hawaiian steel music, as much as his understanding of street theory.