The Hand of Fate

Hands down, my favorite M. Night Shyamalan movie is Signs. The humor, the humanity, and the early fall scenery of Pennsylvania (my home state) just get me every time. It’s a movie that I return to every single fall. The soundtrack of Signs, by composer James Newton Howard, is nothing short of a masterpiece — especially the final sequence known as The Hand of Fate (Parts 1 and 2).

M. Night is a minimalist by nature and favors very lean movie making. He begrudgingly had to use CGI in Signs, and has a very hard time using music in his movies. He actually cuts his film so they “work” without music. Only then does he approach James Newton Howard for the score. If your so inclined, this is an excellent behind the scenes featurette from the Signs. You can see the tenuous minuet of their egos.

Signs opens with a very Hitchcockian 3 note motif. Though the opening is rather sinister, the motif was then used as a series of melodic arpeggios to exposit in the “heart” of final scene. This is known as The Hand of Fate – Part II.

On a personal note, I have a strong belief in God. I pray and meditate daily. Ultimately, I think reason I resonate so much with Signs — is that the film is profoundly spiritual. M. Night Shyamalan pulled off the unthinkable; a creepy and fun movie, that is deeply rooted in faith.

In 2023, James Newton Howard released an album called Night After Night, that invites listeners into the eerie and suspenseful worlds of M. Night Shyamalan’s films. The album features reimagined themes from Shyamalan’s cinematic universe. The album is stunning, specifically the pieces: The Village: Morning, and Signs: The Hand of Fate.

You might also like to play…

The Village: The Gravel Road | fingerstyle guitar + TAB

How to play The Hand of Fate | fingerstyle guitar

The guitar tab for The Hand of Fate is beautifully written across 4 pages, and played straight through without repeats. I recommend this for intermediate guitar players and up — as the 3-note intervals are pretty relentless throughout the piece. Enjoy! The guitar tab is available below:

In an effort to make the guitar tab uncluttered and easy to read, I used a ( . . . . ) to denote that an interval is played 4 x. Likewise ( . . . .  . . . . ) indicates that the interval is played 8x. It’s all pretty obvious.

**Signs (2002): The Hand of Fate | fingerstyle guitar

This arrangement is played in an inverted Drop D tuning. You guitar will be tuned like this, from low to high: E A D G B (D)