Below is the lesson for “Helen’s Theme” by Philip Glass.

Helpful Tips

Learn a spooky melody that’s perfect for Halloween! This song is the theme music from the 90’s horror movie, ‘Candyman’. Originally performed on piano, it adapted quite nicely to ukulele!

From a fingerpicking standpoint, it’s rather straightforward with the only section that is truly difficult being, Theme 2. What makes this section hard, are the chords; or rather, the “stretch chords”. There are three chords in this section that require your fingers to have dexterity like a gymnast. But fear not, because we’ll break down the best fingering choice for these chords, as well as, tips for transitioning from one to the next.

A BIG concept that this piece dives into is, Rubato. This means, that we do not have to strictly adhere to a steady tempo. By altering the tempo, we can create an eerie ambience. For example, in the second half of the fourth bar (F), I slow the passage down to create more tension before resolving to the original tempo in the fifth bar (Am).

Part 1 – Performance & Free Lesson

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