Now We Are Free “Now We Are Free” is one of Hans Zimmer’s most iconic themes, right up there with “Time” from Inception. Originally composed with vocalist Lisa Gerrard for Gladiator, the piece captures the Roman concept of the afterlife—Elysium—and the protagonist’s final journey home. […]

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 […]

Marion’s Theme The score for Raiders of the Lost Ark—and the entire Indiana Jones series—is a cornerstone of my childhood. The collaboration between John Williams and Steven Spielberg produced music that is truly timeless. In particular, ‘Marion’s Theme’ stands out as one of Williams’ most […]