- I'm going to teach you how to use music
to move your audience from this,
to this.
(crowd cheering)
You'll learn how to use modulation
like a Hollywood composer
from James Horner's Oscar nominated score to Braveheart.
We will focus on one cue
where the key changes three times,
and you'll learn how to guide the listener
and tell a better story with your music.
Hey everybody.
Welcome back to the channel.
Thanks for being here.
If you're new, my name is Ryan.
I've got music on every major network,
and this is where I talk about
the craft of writing music.
There's a scene in Braveheart where William Wallace
has to convince an unwilling group of soldiers
to go up in battle against the English army.
He wins them over with a rousing speech,
but it's James Horner's score,
that convinces us emotionally
that the men have been inspired.
The scene starts in A Mixolydian,
which is just A major with a flat seven.
(piano scale playing)
The flat seven makes the music a bit softer
and more neutral,
which works because we're not sure yet
which way the scene is going to go.
- And if this is your army
Why does it go?
- We get our first modulation
and our first shift in the music.
When Wallace says Sons of Scotland
and people start to listen up.
- Sons of Scotland,
I am William Wallace.
- Although the gravity of the music before
really centered around A as the tonic.
Now we're firmly cadencing into D major.
The major key feels noble and warm,
which gives us a positive feeling about Wallace.
(piano playing)
I want to point out the difference between this concept
of a hit and the idea of a shift.
A hit in film scoring
is when the music intentionally highlights
a specific moment,
which Horner does by cadencing
at the end of Wallace's line.
But a shift is when the entire music track itself
moves into new territory
by modulating to D major,
Horner not only highlights the line of dialogue,
but shows that it's a major turning point in the scene.
Also notice that the lead instrument has changed
from oboe to French horn.
The next modulation comes under the line
"here in defiance of tyranny."
There's a very strong
and clear cadence into D
and since we are in the key of D major,
we expect to land on a D major chord,
but instead Horner shifts to D Dorian,
which is a minor mode.
- And I see a whole arm of my countrymen,
here in defiance of tyranny.
- The modulation is incredibly smooth
because we still are expecting D
it's just been transformed from D major to a D minor.
(piano playing)
Pay attention to how the modulation
creates a significant shift in the scene
and carries the story forward into the next moment.
And again,
notice how every one of these shifts
also has a change in the lead instrument.
When I first analyzed this cue years ago,
it really changed how I think about scoring a scene.
I'm much more focused on establishing
and maintaining a mood for a certain stretch of time,
and then shifting as the story changes,
rather than trying to keep the same music
for the whole scene
and just hitting important moments.
I can talk more in a future video
about how I plan the score for a scene.
So if that's something you'd like to see,
let me know in the comments
and make sure you subscribe so
you don't miss it.
So here we are in D Dorian,
sometimes mixed with D natural minor,
and the mood has a much more serious tone
as Wallace talks to the men about freedom.
- You have come to fight as free men
and free man you are.
- We get one more modulation
when Wallace really gets his audience's attention.
- Fight and you may die.
Run and you'll live at least a while.
And dying in your beds many years from now,
would you be willing to trade all the days...
- You can feel it in the music
that now he is reaching into their hearts.
Again, Horner cadences into D,
do not underestimate the power of a cadence,
but he cadences into a D chord with no third,
which means he can effortlessly move
from D minor back to D major
and shift the music into this last segment
of the scene.
(piano playing)
The shift from D minor to D major plays on that idea
of using major chords
from outside your key
to make them feel even more major.
For more about how that works.
Check out this video here,
where I talk about how film composers use chords by thirds
to create that Hollywood sound.
Thanks for watching
and I will see you in the next one.