The Music Theory Of EVIL Villains And DARK Artifacts
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If you are watching a movie you can tell immediately if something bad is about to happens to the protagonist, or if someone evil is about to enter the scene.
How?
(Think about it for just a sec…)
“Because of the soundtrack”
Correct! The background music cues you in on what’s about to happen…
… but how is that done exactly? How do Hollywood composers tell you that evil is afoot and things are about to go astray?
They use specific chords and progressions that our brain interprets as “evil”. And I’m going to show them to you!
In this video you’ll find:
The ‘danger chord’ that was used in ‘Psycho’ by Alfred Hitchcock and several other film noir.
The chord progression that Hollywood uses for the themes of evil antagonists and ‘dark’ artifacts.
These chords and progressions are re-usable in any style of music, of course. Hollywood does not have the monopoly on them!
P.S. If your religion or philosophy of life frowns on making art that expresses evil or negative emotions… do not click on the video below. Duh.
That much should be obvious, but the last time I mentioned an “evil scale” in the title of one my videos, I got my Inbox flooded by hate emails from a religious group.
(Some of them so entertaining that I printed and framed them…)
So yeah, the video below is “trigger warning: evil”. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of hell the kitchen ;-)
To learn how to express emotions (positive, negative, and everything in between) in your songs, check out the Complete Chord Mastery guitar course that will opens up the door to the secrets of harmony on your guitar.
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