D U N E

Hans Zimmer’s DUNE soundtrack is absolutely gnarly — and it plays out brilliantly in the film. I’ll be honest: I don’t know much about the book. The synopsis is incredibly dense, and it’s clearly been a difficult story to bring to the screen.

The 1984 David Lynch version was a critical and commercial disaster. I have enormous respect for Lynch — but his esoteric style only tangled an already complicated narrative further. Villeneuve’s redux is a different story entirely. Far more accessible, and far more cinematic.

Zimmer’s score is futuristic and deeply listenable. The two actually discussed DUNE during their collaboration on Blade Runner 2049 — and Zimmer has said it was a lifelong dream to score a film adaptation. What’s fascinating is that both he and Villeneuve felt a strong femininity at the heart of the story — and they were determined to honor that in the music. Hence that primal female vocal line woven throughout the score, most powerfully in Gom Jabbar.

For this arrangement, I drew primarily from Herald of the Change — where the principal melody is syncopated and carried with a quieter intensity. I also wove in elements from Gom Jabbar and Leaving Caladan.

You might also like to play…
(some other pieces by Hans Zimmer)

A Time of Quiet Between the Storms (Dune: Part Two) | fingerstyle guitar + TAB

Blade Runner 2049 | fingerstyle guitar + TAB

The Dark Knight Rises | fingerstyle guitar + TAB

How to play Herald of the Change | fingerstyle guitar

The guitar tab is beautifully written across 4 pages, and I recommend this piece for intermediate guitar players and up. I based this guitar arrangement from the track, Herald of the Change, where the principle melody is syncopated and has a mellower execution. I also added elements of the tracks: Gom Jabber and Leaving Caladan. The whole thing is essentially one passage played straight through.

Enjoy, the guitar tab is available below:

My order of play looks like this:

Intro (my own creation)

Herald of Change (0:12)

Gom Jabber (0:59)
This is my take on the primal-female vocal line. I used Gustavo Santaolalla’s fingerstyle technique from The Last of Us.

Leaving Caladan (1:33)
This is really the same deal as Herald of Change, however the bass-note changes slightly in the repeated section.

[guitar tab] **DUNE: Herald of the Change (Hans Zimmer) fingerstyle guitar

This piece is tuned one whole step down (from low to high): D G C F A D. You could just as easily play it in standard tuning, albeit with a slightly higher tonality.