# How To Write Like John Williams! Secrets of Film Scoring



## gsilbers (Nov 27, 2016)

Not exactly the treasure trove that will get you to write the next spielberg movie but i like this guy's cut and dry video lessons. This one is only one of them




His approach is very didactic and actually the same stuff taught in berklee and other places. I wanted to share this since there are so many other youtube video lessons that... for me at least.. are too..hmm empty, "general" and "masterclass-sy". maybe it will inspire lessons with a more hands on approach rather than a more "intelectual-big picture" approach. 

check also out his newman video but more important those modal scales and other "boring" neaty gritty scale lessons which are good for any musician.


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## gsilbers (Nov 27, 2016)

And this video just made me time travel to berkley 11 years ago. same "type" of teacher btw


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## synergy543 (Nov 27, 2016)

Did anyone get the Beato Book? If so, what are your thoughts?


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## jneebz (Nov 27, 2016)

Thanks for sharing. What an amazing musician!


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## all ears (Nov 28, 2016)

Thank you for the link. Very interesting collection of material. There are also some really nice analyses on other composers (Thomas Newman, James Newton Howard, etc.).


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## Saxer (Nov 28, 2016)

Very cool stuff! I only knew him from his incredible solfege shows with his son. Thanks for sharing!


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## Tatu (Nov 28, 2016)

I stumbled upon Beatos videos just last week whilst practicing the art of procrastination. Good stuff.


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## CACKLAND (Nov 28, 2016)

Tatu said:


> I stumbled upon Beatos videos just last week whilst practicing the art of procrastination. Good stuff.



Something that generally finds a slot in my schedule as well


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## SillyMidOn (Nov 28, 2016)

gsilbers said:


> Not exactly the treasure trove that will get you to write the next spielberg movie but i like this guy's cut and dry video lessons. This one is only one of them
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Check out:

http://www.filmmusicinstitute.com/index.html - not specifically about Williams, but this is a really good course, and if you live in the US you can do it live with SS Smalley as well.


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## Puzzlefactory (Nov 28, 2016)

Great couple of videos.


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## gsilbers (Nov 29, 2016)

SillyMidOn said:


> Check out:
> 
> http://www.filmmusicinstitute.com/index.html - not specifically about Williams, but this is a really good course, and if you live in the US you can do it live with SS Smalley as well.



yes, i did the smalley course here in LA. now i know everything about aliens with a under tunnel to stonhenge and the british symphony  (which is not on the online course) 

His stuff about the Zed cleff is also inrteresting


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## CT (Nov 29, 2016)

Decent coverage of some basic mannerisms, which could apply to a number of composers. There's so much more, though, to Williams' harmonic language, thanks to his jazz roots, that doesn't get talked about (nor utilized by people trying to sound like him) as often as the surface-level techniques. But that's what you really need to dig into to "get" his music.


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## mverta (Nov 29, 2016)

Um...


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## Lawson. (Nov 29, 2016)

mverta said:


> Um...



Exactly what I was thinking.


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## Tysmall (Nov 29, 2016)

mverta said:


> Um...


Lol.


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## benmrx (Nov 29, 2016)

Ha. Just stumbled onto these videos earlier today and was going to post the links here. Some great little nuggets to think about in these videos. I really like his style..., though..., now I'm REALLY wanting to take Verta's master-class on Williams. I'm assuming he goes into much more detail, just a bit nervous that Verta's teaching style will be 'over my head' as I'm not classically trained.


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## mverta (Nov 29, 2016)

Over your head?! HA.  Making it practical, "get-able," and useable for composers at any level is pretty much the classes' mission statement. Have. No. Fear. Trust me.


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## benmrx (Nov 29, 2016)

mverta said:


> Over your head?! HA.  Making it practical, "get-able," and useable for composers at any level is pretty much the classes' mission statement. Have. No. Fear. Trust me.


Oh man.... you had me up until 'trust me'..... haha. Joking aside I'll definitely be getting that course from you.


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## gsilbers (Nov 29, 2016)

all ears said:


> Thank you for the link. Very interesting collection of material. There are also some really nice analyses on other composers (Thomas Newman, James Newton Howard, etc.).



Im liking that he gives more specific examples of those famous composers pieaces and goes into the actual music theory (guts) of it.. only one or a couple of examples at a time... instead of just _talking_ about the overall music with few examples. and does it in a short consice matter. master type classes are also good.. i guess there are master classes to guide to _what_ you need to figure out while there are other type of classes to tell _how_ to figure it out. both are good. like both. i guess doing a masterclass with a details example of all of williams score would take about 1 year!


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## mverta (Nov 29, 2016)

Or there are the best masterclasses which do both.


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## tack (Nov 29, 2016)

Mike's teaching style is far more accessible than Rick Beato's just in terms of how theory is approached (or to the extent that it is approached at all). I've been watching quite a few of Beato's videos and, having taken all of Mike's classes, I can say there is a fine complement there. I'm learning stuff I haven't seen Mike cover, because doing so would lapse him into a ten minute rant about the the role of theory in composition. Meanwhile, Mike has a crazy breadth. I also find that Alain Mayrand teaches differently is a nice complement as well.

BTW if you haven't seen these videos of Rick Beato's son Dylan, they will blow your mind.


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## Karma (Nov 29, 2016)

tack said:


> Mike's teaching style is far more accessible than Rick Beato's just in terms of how theory is approached (or to the extent that it is approached at all). I've been watching quite a few of Beato's videos and, having taken all of Mike's classes, I can say there is a fine complement there. I'm learning stuff I haven't seen Mike cover, because doing so would lapse him into a ten minute rant about the the role of theory in composition. Meanwhile, Mike has a crazy breadth. I also find that Alain Mayrand teaches differently is a nice complement as well.
> 
> BTW if you haven't seen these videos of Rick Beato's son Dylan, they will blow your mind.



Woah, that's just ridiculous. What an ear!


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## gsilbers (Nov 29, 2016)

mverta said:


> Or there are the best masterclasses which do both.



oh i i edited my post right when you where posting so it looks weird  

i meant to say about the type of lessons where it would be just one pieace of JW score and anaylise chords, melody, theory, orchestration , the reason of it in music theory and against picture, where it came from etc etc... i mean.. it could go on forever! 
and if its adding graphics etc. like those classes in evenant then even longer!


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## NoamL (Dec 1, 2016)

This video is like a guy saying you don't need to know Russian to read Dostoevsky because he's going to explain the story to you one syllable at a time.

Steps to actually learning from John Williams

1. Learn theory! You don't have to go into student debt... there are so many educational resources online... I don't get the bad rap music education has on this forum... it is our language!

2. Score study. Download midis of his themes, order the Hal Leonard editions of his concert suites, etc.

3. Mike Verta knows what he's doing and has a series of masterclasses


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## Puzzlefactory (Dec 2, 2016)

NoamL said:


> 3. Mike Verta knows what he's doing and has a series of masterclasses



Just checked out his website and signed up to the Horner masterclass to see what it's like.

Beautiful mind is one of my favourite soundtracks so hope to get a bit of insight into it from the class.


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## Kaufmanmoon (Dec 2, 2016)

Puzzlefactory said:


> Just checked out his website and signed up to the Horner masterclass to see what it's like.
> 
> Beautiful mind is one of my favourite soundtracks so hope to get a bit of insight into it from the class.



Man are you in for a ride on that one. One of my favourites.
Whatever you do, make sure you purchase at least one more of his classes after you watch the Horner class.
You'll know what I mean after you've watched it.


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## Karma (Dec 2, 2016)

Kaufmanmoon said:


> Man are you in for a ride on that one. One of my favourites.
> Whatever you do, make sure you purchase at least one more of his classes after you watch the Horner class.
> You'll know what I mean after you've watched it.


Funnily enough Horner was the first masterclass I purchased too. Having watched 80% of the other masterclasses now I'm definitely overdue a revisit to On Horner...


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## Niel (Dec 2, 2016)

NoamL said:


> This video is like a guy saying you don't need to know Russian to read Dostoevsky because he's going to explain the story to you one syllable at a time.



Well he's actually not saying you don't need to know theory.


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## mverta (Dec 2, 2016)

The Horner masterclass is sort of a unique beast; very deliberately different from the rest.. Kinda tough start if you ask me.


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## Puzzlefactory (Dec 2, 2016)

mverta said:


> The Horner masterclass is sort of a unique beast; very deliberately different from the rest.. Kinda tough start if you ask me.



Well I'm not one to shrink from a challenge.


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## Tatu (Dec 2, 2016)

mverta said:


> The Horner masterclass is sort of a unique beast; very deliberately different from the rest.. Kinda tough start if you ask me.


Hahahah! Only class I've taken from you, sir. Maybe I should give some other one of yours a try as well.

PS: Don't get me wrong. That Horner class was a great story that went very deep.


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## Puzzlefactory (Dec 2, 2016)

mverta said:


> The Horner masterclass is sort of a unique beast; very deliberately different from the rest.. Kinda tough start if you ask me.



By the way, how long does it take to process an order? I bought it this morning and am still waiting for it to be processed...


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## Lawson. (Dec 2, 2016)

Puzzlefactory said:


> By the way, how long does it take to process an order? I bought it this morning and am still waiting for it to be processed...



It's done manually, so I'd give it 48 hours or so.


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## mverta (Dec 2, 2016)

You should have the links by now!



Tatu said:


> Hahahah! Only class I've taken from you, sir. Maybe I should give some other one of yours a try as well.
> 
> PS: Don't get me wrong. That Horner class was a great story that went very deep.



Yeah the other ones are... lighter. Fun, even.


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## tack (Dec 2, 2016)

I'd say even On Horner got fun around the 3 hour mark.


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## Puzzlefactory (Dec 3, 2016)

Well, the first ten minutes doesn't seem all that bad... :D


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## ZeroZero (Dec 9, 2016)

Love his stuff his young son has incredible ears!


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