Salvatore Salvatore is from Lana Del Rey’s 2015 album, Honeymoon. The melancholy pop ballad has a very “Italian” quality to it. The song worked out beautifully for guitar, and was a recommendation from one of my YouTube Listeners. It is Lana’s Del Rey’s usual crooning […]

The Apology Song The Apology Song (Si Puedes Perdonar) was composed by Gustavo Santaolalla for the 2014 animated film ‘The Book of Life’. It’s a beautiful ballad about the power of forgiveness and redemption. The song is sung by Diego Luna, who voices the character […]

Un Divague Un Divague (a ramble) is the final song from Gustavo Santaolalla’s Narcos: Mexico soundtrack. The sparse instrumental piece is actually played on an electric guitar. However, for my arrangement, I felt it would be more accessible on an acoustic guitar. It’s a fun […]

Memoria Memoria is a pretty motif from Gustavo Santaolalla’s Narcos: Mexico soundtrack. He’s actually playing an electric guitar that’s doubled with a violin. Given that dynamic, Memoria sounded better on a nylon string, as a lone guitar performance. You might also like to play… (some […]

Amor y Paz On March 24th (2020), at the beginning of the pandemic, Gustavo Santaolalla posted this short piece to his Instagram and YouTube channel. So far as I can tell, he’s calling it Amor y Paz (Love & Peace). It was a musical offering […]

The Ecstasy of Gold The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is the best of Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy starring Clint Eastwood. The film is considered the definitive Spaghetti Western — with it’s use of long shots and close-up cinematography. Even though it’s the last […]

Yellowstone Yellowstone is a Paramount TV series written and directed by Taylor Sheridan (Sicario, Hell or High Water, Wind River). Kevin Costner plays John Dutton, a father trying to protect his ranch, the largest in the United States, from land developers, and a neighboring Indian […]

Farewell to Altamira I LOVE this piece from Mark Knopfler. Next to The Godfather theme, it’s currently my most favorite thing to play. This piece is from the film Finding Altamira. The score is comprised of Knopfler — deftly playing subtle, Spanish guitar lines on […]

Altamira Altamira (Mark Knopfler & Evelyn Glennie) is the title track from, Finding Altamira: a 2016 film about a Spanish archaeologist (Antonio Banderas) and his daughter (Allegra Allen) who cause worldwide controversy in 1879 when they discover cave paintings that are 10,000 years old. Here’s a short […]

Léon Starring Natalie Portman, Jean Reno, and Gary Oldman — Léon: The Professional is an amazingly casted and highly entertaining crime thriller. When it was first released on VHS in 1994 is was simply called “The Professional”. I believe they released a special edition (or […]

Spanish Arpeggios and Trills An étude is a short musical composition designed as an exercise to improve a specific technique or demonstrate a particular skill. This arpeggio exercise was a section from a mediocre song I wrote years ago. However, I feel this riff is […]

The Shoe Maker The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is a 2018 adventure-comedy film directed and written by Terry Gilliam. The movie is thought to be one of the most infamous examples of development hell in film history, with Gilliam unsuccessfully attempting to make the […]