Accompanying Blog Post For Video: “How to play ‘GAME OF THRONES’ on the piano”
What an epic song for an epic show! I’m a die hard GOT fan personally, and every time that theme song comes on I sing along and get pumped up. It’s a perfect 3/4 melody and toggles between two beautifully written phrases. Here are a few other reasons I chose this song to arrange and teach to you guys:
1. Mix of minor and major modes
At first glance (or listen), this song is definitively minor. But upon further inspection, we see that’s not fully the case:
A lovely transformation occurs after the main theme is introduced… a major variation of the main theme follows! A perfect borrowing from the major key to add variety and intrigue to this melodic theme. As it usually does, jumping between major and minor modes can toy with your emotions a bit. That kind of tension and release is what makes beautiful music in my opinion.
2. 8th notes at different placements in different measures
The 3/4 pattern is strong throughout, but not repetitive. It’s the genius of this simple melody!
When learning how to play in a time signature other than 4/4, it can sometimes be difficult to keep track of the beat when 8th notes are involved. For that reason, this song is a great learning tool because the 8th notes fall in different places depending on which measure you’re in. Sometimes we see a measure with notes written { 1-and, 2, 3 } with the 8th notes at the beginning of the measure on beat 1; other times we see { 1, 2, 3-and } with the 8th notes at the end of the measure on beat 3; etc…
It almost couldn’t be written better if the song was intended to be a tool to practice divisions of 3/4 measures! Had to teach it for you beginner/intermediate rhythmic players out there 🙂
If you love using your favorite songs to learn the piano, check out ‘GAME OF THRONES’ at the Playground Sessions YouTube channel.
If you like what you see you can download our app to learn the rest of this song with our interactive sheet music.
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