Below is the lesson for the “Star Wars Medley”.
Helpful Tips
Embark on an epic journey through the Star Wars universe in this medley which features 4 iconic compositions from the classic era. For those of you who may be younger, a medley refers to a piece of music which is composed from snippets of songs, usually three or more, that is performed one after another. For this medley, you will be learning excerpts from:
1) The Main Theme
2) The Imperial March
3) May the Force Be With You
4) The Throne Room
This is an advanced fingerstyle arrangement that I’d recommend for the seasoned intermediate player and above. Some of the challenging areas that you’ll encounter begin with the overall feel of the piece, being that it has a swung eighth note feel. Furthermore, there are tricky rhythms, including eighth note triplets (bonus lesson: triplet strum) and syncopated sixteenth notes.
If you are new to studying rhythmic notation, I’d recommend starting here; but there is no better way to truly understand how rhythm and timing connect then by learning to read standard notation.
Another concept that this piece dives into is Rubato. This means, that we do not have to strictly adhere to a steady tempo. The overall goal is to have a natural flow to our playing. Listen to Matt’s performance for, “May the Force Be With You”. It’s a great example of how the pace of a passage could be slowed down to create ambience.
Finally, from a fingerstyle perspective, this piece jumps between using a thumb, three finger, and four finger approach.
Part 1 – Performance & Free Lesson