[Izzy]

My first "puzzle". I'll say right now that I have no idea what the answer is or if it means anything whatsoever. A few days ago my best friend and I were at the front office in school, dropping off a note. The band teacher, who's very nice and usually says hello, ignored us and turned straight to the front desk lady, said "4 2 rest 2 1. That's the first sequence of the joyce. Say it to yourself all day. 4 2 rest 2 1." Then she walked off again, without another word. We dropped the note off, thought, and went to the library to try and figure out what she meant. (Nosy, I know. ) My first thought was something along the lines of "Band teacher + The word rest + The Joyce sounding like a title = First measure of a song?", but I found nothing backing it up. It has the word 'sequence' in it, so I'm thinking something mathy?

Thoughts?

[Guest]

My first "puzzle". I'll say right now that I have no idea what the answer is or if it means anything whatsoever. A few days ago my best friend and I were at the front office in school, dropping off a note. The band teacher, who's very nice and usually says hello, ignored us and turned straight to the front desk lady, said "4 2 rest 2 1. That's the first sequence of the joyce. Say it to yourself all day. 4 2 rest 2 1." Then she walked off again, without another word. We dropped the note off, thought, and went to the library to try and figure out what she meant. (Nosy, I know. ) My first thought was something along the lines of "Band teacher + The word rest + The Joyce sounding like a title = First measure of a song?", but I found nothing backing it up. It has the word 'sequence' in it, so I'm thinking something mathy?

Thoughts?

I'm thinking James Joyce Ulysses, not checked it out though, unless she teaches carpentry and you misunderstood JOIST of 4x2 at a ratio of 2:1 for extra support ??

[Guest]

Sounds to me like part of a song, but not some sort of code. 4 2 could be a time signature, same with 2 1. Rests are common in music. It could also be percussion music (i.e. hit the drum 4 times, then 2 times, then rest, then 2 times, then 1.

I don't get this, is this a riddle or are you just confused about something you overheard?

[Guest]

Looked up "The Joyce Sequence" on google - came up with this: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/JoyceSequence.html

It is a math thing.

My first "puzzle". I'll say right now that I have no idea what the answer is or if it means anything whatsoever. A few days ago my best friend and I were at the front office in school, dropping off a note. The band teacher, who's very nice and usually says hello, ignored us and turned straight to the front desk lady, said "4 2 rest 2 1. That's the first sequence of the joyce. Say it to yourself all day. 4 2 rest 2 1." Then she walked off again, without another word. We dropped the note off, thought, and went to the library to try and figure out what she meant. (Nosy, I know. ) My first thought was something along the lines of "Band teacher + The word rest + The Joyce sounding like a title = First measure of a song?", but I found nothing backing it up. It has the word 'sequence' in it, so I'm thinking something mathy?

Thoughts?

[Guest]

That's my question as well, was it part of an "overheard conversation" or an actual riddle? My first thought was they were talking about The Joyce Dance Theater in NY, sounds like a dance count maybe?

I also noticed that 2 1 is half of 4 2. Not sure if that means anything at all.Not good with music or math so its purely a guess :-)

[Izzy]

Yeah, it was just something we overheard.

[Guest]

Yeah, it was just something we overheard.

Shot in the dark.

Not sure why, but I think it has something to do with marching formations. You have to repeat them for a while so you dont have to have them at the forefront of memory if playing in a marching band (so you can focus on playing). The 4 2 rest 2 1 could be the sequencing for turns and pauses.