Never Let Me Down Again Never Let Me Down Again, is a song by the English band Depeche Mode, who were pioneers of electronic and “alternative” music in the 1980’s. This song is from their 6th album, Music for the Masses (1987) My arrangement is directly […]

Vanishing Grace (a variation) I’ve been steeped in Gustavo Santaolalla’s music and guitar playing since 2005 when his iconic score for Brokeback Mountain was first released. The minimalism of his playing captivated me immediately. Santaolalla’s style has informed my playing ever since. Gustavo Santaolalla has […]

The Last of Us (HBO) HBO’s The Last of Us is being heralded as “the greatest video game adaptation ever”. No surprise as Craig Mazen is the executive producer and showrunner. Mazen’s Chernobyl mini-series (on HBO) was one of the greatest shows I have ever […]

21 Grams I completely lifted my right-hand technique from composer, Gustavo Santaolalla. He effectively arpeggiates chord shapes by rolling through them with his fingers. This is a beautiful way to voice chords, and pretty easy to do with a little practice. The best way to […]

The Quarantine Zone (20 Years Later) The Quarantine Zone is the first song from the iconic The Last of Us soundtrack by Gustavo Santaolalla. This track embodies Santaolalla’s creativity — and his element of surprise. Quarantine Zone is gnarly, like a Radiohead song. The chorus […]

Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries) While I don’t know too much about this film — it was released internationally in 2011 as Mumbai Diaries. (At the time of this writing, it’s actually on Netflix.) However, Dhobi Ghat is the one of the best Gustavo Santaolalla soundtracks […]

Lago Frías  I often create medleys and musical derivatives that I personally want to hear. Lago Frias (The Motorcycle Diaries) has always been one of my favorite guitar riffs from composer Gustavo Santaolalla. But, it’s only a riff. With this arrangement, I’ve created a Motorcycle […]

Fifty Fifty Narcos: Mexico is the soundtrack that I had been waiting for. It’s a glorious series and Gustavo Santaolalla adds a smooth, dark underpinning. Much like Amado Carrillo Fuentes character himself. Although Gustavo Santaolalla is prolific pop musician and composer — I prefer his […]

Left Behind (Together) Left Behind (Together) is a nifty, steel-string guitar piece by Gustavo Santaolalla; from The Last of Us Volume 2. It’s emblematic of his ability to find small spaces, and set positive constraints on the guitar. Gustavo Santaolalla picks low hanging fruit like […]

Apertura Apertura is the opening song of Walter Salles’ The Motorcycle Diaries —  a 2004 biopic about a then 23-year-old Ernesto Guevara, who would years later become internationally known as Che Guevara. The film recounts the 1952 expedition by Guevara and his friend Alberto Granado […]

The House I highly recommend The House on Netflix. In general, stop-animation is incredibly engaging — with a weirdness and authenticity that’s impossible to look away from. The House couples this with excellent writing and a creeping dread. This film is an easy watch — […]

Finch Free audio download on SoundCloud. Finch on Apple + was a beautiful and highly entertaining movie: In a post-apocalyptic world, Finch (Tom Hanks) knowing that his health is slowly failing, builds a robot to take of his dog after he passes. The robot was […]