Rue's four-note song

The Hunger Games- Rue's Whistle-0

This four-note song was used by Rue in District 11 to tell her fellow harvesters when the working day was over. She would be the first to see the quitting time flag from her perch high in the trees, then when she sang the tune, the surrounding mockingjays would pick up the song and sing it back to those on the ground.

History

During the 74th Hunger Games, Rue allied with Katniss Everdeen, and when they split up to each execute their part of the plan to destroy the Career Tributes' supplies, Rue used her song to signal Katniss that she was safe, but couldn't get back right away. Later, Katniss sang the melody back in answer to let Rue know it was safe to come out.

In The Hunger Games film, rather than using the same melody, Rue sang her four notes to Katniss, who then whistled a different four-note melody back.

During Katniss and Peeta Mellark's visit to District 11 on their Victory Tour, an old man whistled Rue's song from the crowd: a prearranged signal for the audience to give District 12's three-finger salute. As Katniss and Peeta left the stage, the man was hauled up the steps of the Justice Building by Peacekeepers and shot in the back of the head.

Musical notes

Rue's four-note melody is quite simple; in concert pitch (C), it is "Db - F - Eb - Gb" (or enharmonically, "C# - E# - D# - F#"). However, the notes more commonly heard and referred to as "Rue's song" are actually Katniss's reply: "G - Bb - A - D", also in concert pitch (C).

Trivia

• The four-note song is often used promotionally in association with The Hunger Games film franchise. For example, it can be heard at the end of the trailer for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and often at the end of official uploads of clips from the films.
• During promotion for Songbirds & Snakes, fans who texted the notes to Rue's song (GBAD) to the official Hunger Games Community feed received a riddle. This riddle, when solved correctly, was suspected to reveal the date and time of the film's second trailer. However, the correct answer was not found.