Drei Chinesen mit dem Kontrabass facts for kids

"Drei Chinesen mit dem Kontrabass" (Three Chinese or Chinamen With A Double Bass) is a popular nonsensical German children's song. Its distinctive feature is a very simple form of word play: while the lyrics remain in effect unchanged, in each consecutive stanza all the vowels are replaced by one single vowel, with that single vowel changing in each new stanza.

Melody

The most widely used tune today is as follows; slight variations in the dotted quarter notes are not uncommon: <score sound="1"> <<

\chords { \set chordChanges = ##t

c1 | g | g | c | c | f | g | c | }

\relative c' { \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4

c4. c8 c8 c b c | d4 d d2 | d8 d d d d d c d | e4 e8 e e4. c8 | g'8 g g g g4 e8 c | a'4 a4 a2 | g4. a8 g8 f e d | c4 c c2 |\bar "|." }

\addlyrics { Drei Chi -- ne -- sen mit dem | Kon -- tra -- bass | sa -- ßen auf der Stra -- ße und er -- | zähl -- ten sich was. Da | kam die Po -- li -- zei, fragt: “Was | ist denn das?” | Drei Chi -- ne -- sen mit dem | Kon -- tra -- bass! | }

>> </score>

A slightly different tune used to be more common in Germany and still prevails in Western Austria and the German speaking part of Switzerland:

<score sound="1"> <<

\chords { \set chordChanges = ##t

c1 | g:7 | g:7 | c | c | g:7 | g:7 | c | }

\relative c { \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4

c4. c8 c8 c b a | g4 g g2 | g8 g g g g g a b | c4 c8 c c4. g8 | c8 c c c c4 b8 a | g4 g g2 | g4. g8 g8 g a b | c4 c c2 \bar "|." }

\addlyrics { Drei Chi -- ne -- sen mit dem | Kon -- tra -- bass | sa -- ßen auf der Stra -- ße und er -- | zähl -- ten sich was. Da | kam die Po -- li -- zei, fragt: “Was | ist denn das?” | Drei Chi -- ne -- sen mit dem | Kon -- tra -- bass! | }

>> </score>

Note that the ambitus is only a fourth in the latter but a Minor seventh in the former Variation.

Rules of the game: Lyrics

The first stanza is sung in correct German:

At least eight stanzas follow, in which all the vowels are consecutively interchanged by the eight monophthongs found in the German language, following the order A, E, I, O, U, Ä, Ö, Ü. Thus, the second stanza goes

Dra Chanasan mat dam Kantrabass

saßan af dar Straßa and arzahltan sach was.
Da kam da Palaza, a, was ast dann das?

Dra Chanasan mat dam Kantrabass.

Sometimes the game is extended to diphthongs (ai, au and so on). In another variation one of the players announces the next vowel change by shouting `Nochmal!` (Again!), or, rather nachmal, nechmel, etc.

See also

In Spanish: Drei Chinesen mit dem Kontrabass para niños