How To Write Like James Newton Howard! Secrets of Film Scoring

In this episode of Everything Music, I will show you melodic and harmonic devices that film composer James Newton Howard uses in his writing to create his epic soundscapes! The two films that I feature in this episode are cues from the soundtrack to King Kong and The Village. This is part 1 of my James Newton Howard spotlight episodes.

Links To Follow:

Twitter - @rickbeato

[thevisinaryy]

The Village soundtrack is just absolutely amazing.

[AimeeNolte]

Fun to see your ear breaking things down. Thanks for your hard work!

[petragaffney]

I didn't want this one to end so soon. It was like having a fountain of gorgeous chordal and modal knowledge cascade over me. Thank you Rick.

[toneguy]

Can you please make on one on Jerry Goldsmith: themes or cues from Alien, The Mummy, Poltergeist or Star Trek would be particularly nice!

[frankibio]

Please do more film scoring videos. They're fantastic.

[meriadocbrandebouc]

I was really hoping you would talk about his score for The Village ! I love the music. Particularly with the solo violin part, played by Hilary Hahn, if I'm not mistaken. Great video !! Thanks !

[jolly]

Seriously, great to see you transcribe a piece of music with your midi workstation. So important to show folks how to integrate the ear, music theory, and keyboard harmony skills to figure out what a composer wrote. Back in the day, some of us used similar techniques to learn modern jazz solos by the greats, such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, using phonograph records and starting and stopping the turntable in the 50s and 60s.

[josreb]

What did 9 people not like about this video? I have become a big fan of yours Rick and really appreciate your offering, insight, experience, education and teaching cadence. Keep it up as long as your personal passion continues to grow.

[johndavis]

Your ability to pick out chords and melodies shows you have top notch ears I'm wondering if you have perfect pitch or relative pitch either way you are the best Rick keep sharing your gift

[maxtofone]

Thanks Rick for another great video... The Village soundtrack is a wonderful work that I have been studying for a while. Cheers, Max

[MyLifeIsFireworks]

Omg the transition from the tritone F# - C to F Dorian was amazing !
And Ebmin followed by F minmaj7 totally nailed it ! !
I totally enjoyed this video and the way you analysed this score!

[ppsyimcrzy]

This is incredibly helpful, Rick. As someone who relies heavily on his ear to compose/arrange, even with all the musical training I've had, I've always found it hard to explain what I'm doing. I can hear what I want in my head and can replicate it, but I'm hardly ever thinking of theory. As a final in my theory class at Juilliard (I swear that I'm not dropping that name to sound pretentious!) we were told to write an etude including all that we'd been studying, i.e. German 6ths, Italian 6ths, modulation...yada yada yada. Long story short, my brain felt trapped and I just sat down and wrote one without focusing on all the rules. Brought it in for review, and although the teacher didn't understand how I composed it without mapping it, I got an A-...got docked a couple points for an incorrect cadence at the end. ANYWAY, so as I approach arranging and orchestration as a novice, your videos are wonderful! Would love some Elfman and Silvestri breakdowns! (Back to the Future and maybe some Beetlejuice or Scissorhands!) Sorry for the long post!

[moeneff]

Rick, I think your authenticity and understanding to what your are doing make your teachings so easy to absorb. Please continue your videos. Youtube needs people like you.

I would like your input on something related to Music theory. I have difficulty understanding how scales can be switched within a music piece. Thank you!

[MaxTooney]

Lots of excellent info here--thanks for taking the time to do this! You could make another video analyzing the cues to "Signs"--which I believe to be one of his best (and most underappreciated) scores.

[J-sk]

James Newton Howard is a god of music and so are you Rick, love it.

[バカカバ-ok]

Awesome Video!! - In the first cue, that last Fm(maj7) Chord, I can also hear a C# up in the violins. Sounds like its right next to the C, creating a nice but very subtle dissonance.

[MoreshwarBriscoe]

You should do Lord of the rings by Howard Shore. Awesome channel btw, you deserve more subs :)

[TheoHarvey]

Your videos are awesome Rick. Only been watching for today and already invaluable information! Don't stop!

[Brianmann]

Really enjoying the videos man. I know everyones throwing names around but Don Downie's Matrix would make a great lesson. Thank you for doing these!

[CodyAlanWoods]

Can you do one of these on Michael Giacchino next?