Opening If you’ve been a reading my blog for any length of time, it’s not hard to figure out that I’m a Gustavo Santaolalla superfan. It all started with the Brokeback Mountain score: acoustic guitar, empty space, minimalism. I had never heard anything like it.  […]

The Avengers The Avengers theme by composer Alan Silvestri is iconic. The way the chorus comes in gets me every time. You’ll hear it in the films when the tide has turned against the enemy, and the Avengers (specifically Iron Man) are really getting after […]

A Quiet Place Marco Beltrami is a great top tier composer. His film scores include: World War Z, Wolverine, Snowpiercer, and The Homesman – directed by Tommy Lee Jones. His piece from A Quiet Place, entitled, A Quiet Life, has some really slick transitions from melancholy […]

Lost in Space Lost in Space (Netflix) is a GREAT series, and family friendly too. It’s a reimagining of the 1965 series of the same name, that follows the brave and hyper-intelligent Robinson family after they’ve crash landed on the wrong planet. Joining the family […]

Simon and Blue Rob Simonsen’s music (aptly named) is perfect for this style of movie. With ‘Simon and Blue’ he seemingly uses every cliche chord progression, texture, and melody from the 80’s. I love every minute of it. This song is so expertly crafted — […]

Chichina I performed Chichina this blog about 7 years ago, however my audio quality was dated and not up to my current standard. I’ve been on a quest to redo the songs that inspire me to play guitar, and Gustavo Santaolalla’s Chichina is one of […]

The American The American is a 2010 thriller film directed by Anton Corbijn and starring George Clooney. The screenplay is an adaptation of the 1990 novel, A Very Private Gentleman, by Martin Booth. The American is my favorite movie of all time. Director Anton Corbijn, […]

Darkest Hour One of the most underrated soundtracks of 2017 was the piano driven score for Darkest Hour, by composers, Dario Marianelli, and Vikingur Olafsson. I had been working on the finale, We Shall Fight, for months. I couldn’t find a way to pair it down. […]

Zambita Zambita is pretty tune by Gustavo Santaolalla from The Motorcycle Diaries soundtrack. Although it’s played on a lightly distorted electric guitar, this piece sounds great on any acoustic guitar. Like much of Gustavo Santaolalla’s film score work, Zambita is a fun, dynamic, and doable […]

Annihilation Annihilation is a 2018 science fiction movie starring Natalie Portman and directed by Alex garland (Ex Machina). The ambient soundscape, by composers Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury, is punctuated and contrasted with a steel string guitar theme known from the soundtrack as: What Do […]

Mystery of Love Mystery of Love is the principle song from Call me By Your Name, an academy award nominated film by Luca Guadagnino. In addition to Mystery of Love, indie-folk songwriter, Sufjan Stevens, has two more songs on the soundtrack: Futile Devices and (my […]

Johann Johannsson This is my tribute to the late, Johann Johannsson (The Theory of Everything, Sicario). He was one of — if not the greatest living composer. His music was all at once: aching, melancholy, and extraordinary progressive. Johann’s passing is a major loss for […]