Spooky & scary tune for Halloween

Halloween is a big deal in the United States. As soon as the leaves start changing color, houses get decorated with witches, cobwebs, skeletons, and ghosts. Do you know a spooky and scary tune for this occasion? What makes a song spooky and scary? To find out, join my one-hour workshop in Zoom on spooky and scary riffs with your ukulele and get ready for a trick or treat.

The following one page PDF of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells used in the opening theme of the movie “The Exorcist” was e-mailed to those enrolled in Ukulele Fall 2024 Course.

How to make it easier to play faster and like clockwork? What chords accompany this eerie, repetitive tune?

The following one page PDF of John Carpenter’s theme for the movie Halloween was sent to purchasers of Ukulele Book Bundle on 27th October 2024.

Will this be easier to play if transposed to another key?
PIANO FALL 2023 with Anne Ku

Testimonials

from the first workshop on 19th October 2023

I appreciated the music theory review of what makes a song sound “spooky”. I’ll have to try out those intervals next time I write a Halloween song!
Naomi (Massachusetts)

Wonderful! I enjoyed it very much. Even for a beginner like me, I was able to play along and learned a few new things. Thank you and I hope to join future sessions.
Davina (Florida)

It was very interesting, especially since I had never given a thought to this topic!
Jane (Minnesota)

I really enjoyed this workshop because the music was different, It was a fun workshop full of exciting music. In the breakout room I met someone I hadn’t met before and we had a great time sharing about the ʻukulele.
Debbie (Hawaii)

Illustration by Eve Myles

Elements of music that spooks and scares

  • dissonance in melody and harmony
  • dynamics: sudden loudness (sforzando), crescendo (increasingly loud)
  • programmatic – tunes from horror movies
  • how to build tension and suspense? anticipation?
A tune associated with a horror movie
Nonstop chromatic scale
Diminished 7th Chords
Two chords in Psycho Killer
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