What do Jurassic Park, Jaws, Harry Potter, and Star Wars all have in common? Well, yeah, they all have scores composed by American treasure and bonafide Jedi, John Williams, but their theme music can help any musician learn and memorize every common note interval in the 12-tone scale.
In fact, what this music really teaches us is the emotional power of a great “simple” melody — something that Williams has no doubt mastered — and these themes showcase this talent in full effect.
With a combination of expected and unexpected interval leaps, his music tells a plethora of stories: an unstable move can introduce a sinister element, an upward reach can convey hope and longing, a small deviation can communicate pensiveness or the lurking of a predator, and so on.
And all of this incredible creative power is at your composerly fingertips as well.
So, with today’s newly launched video on Soundfly’s YouTube channel, let’s celebrate some of John Williams’ most iconic movie themes, and learn to recognize every interval in the scale. Here’s a Spotify playlist we put together that collects all 12 themes referenced in the video.
If you liked this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel for more of these as soon as they come out!
*Plus, click here to download a FREE PDF version of our John Williams-inspired “Interval Cheat Sheet” (For Educational Purposes Only).
Lastly, if you’re looking to level up your musical skills, join Soundfly’s all-access membership here.
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