Song From a Secret Garden Secret Garden is an Irish-Norwegian duo specializing in New Age instrumental music — combining elements of Celtic and neo-classical styles. The duo consists of Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry and Norwegian composer and pianist Rolf Løvland. The pair rose to international […]

Now We Are Free I never thought this would happen — but the ethereal melody of “Now We Are Free” has transcended the sands of time and cinema — making its return in “Gladiator 2.” This evocative song, originally composed by Hans Zimmer and Lisa […]

Closing “Closing” is the title theme of the film, We Live In Time — a poignant romantic drama that explores the complexities of love, loss, and the passage of time. The film stars, Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. The music is from Bryce Dessner, who […]

First Love and the Falling Snow I wrote “First Love and the Falling Snow” for my wife, Jennifer — as we approach our 23rd Wedding Anniversary in just a few days. Foremost in my memory is one of our early dates in 1998. (As a […]

Skyfall As the highest-grossing Bond film of all time, Skyfall raked in a stunning $1.1 billion upon its release in 2012. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $1.5 billion today. The other Daniel Craig era Bond films have massive box office numbers, but none of […]

Clocks To this day, Clocks is still mesmerizing. A truly compelling 4 bar progression: Eb Major, Bb Minor, Bb Minor, F Minor. That’s 3 minor shapes in a row — yet the riff sounds overwhelmingly positive — which is normally the domain of major chords. […]

Yellow Recently, early Coldplay songs have made a comeback with my teenage guitar students. I had forgotten how extraordinary these songs were, specifically from the first two albums, Parachutes and Rush of Blood to the Head. With “Yellow” I wanted to do a fingerstyle arrangement […]

Rooftop Kiss This a beautiful piece of music from The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). It’s by the late composer, James Horner, who also composed the music for modern classic film’s like Titanic, Braveheart, and Legends of the Fall. The song is from a romantic and well […]

When Ginny Kissed Harry This is a beautiful piece of music by British composer, Nicholas Hooper, whose highest-profile scores were two Harry Potter films: Order of the Phoenix and the Half-Blood Prince. When Ginny Kissed Harry, turned out beautifully for a single guitar — as the […]

Edelweiss Edelweiss is a 1959 piece from the musical, The Sound of Music. It is named after the edelweiss, a white flower found high in the Alps. The song was written for the Broadway production of The Sound of Music, for the character, Captain Georg […]

The Whirling Ways of Stars that Pass The Whirling Ways of Stars that Pass is from Johann Johannsson’s 2014 Golden Globe winning score for, The Theory of Everything. It’s a beautiful piece of music that turned out to be an (easy to play) guitar arrangement. […]

Unchained Melody Unchained Melody is nearly 70 years old. It was initially written (by Alex North and Hy Zaret) as a theme for a prison film entitled, Unchained (1955).  The song was popularized by The Righteous Brothers a decade later in 1965. My favorite is […]