Instrumental Halloween tunes for ukulele

As soon as the warm summer wanes and the leaves start to change color, I see Halloween decorations appear. Some families cover their houses and front gardens with skeletons and cobwebs as early as September. Costumes and wigs get posted for sale in Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. This is also the time of the year to watch horror films. Can the ukulele be used to play instrumental Halloween tunes instead of accompanying the trick-or-treaters?

Tubular Bells

In May 1973, an unknown record label released its first album, a 49-minute instrumental piece split on both sides of a vinyl record. The 19-year old English guitarist had spent two years composing it.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, the director of a horror film was looking for music to use. He listened to a stack of demos in the film library and got hooked on Tubular Bells. Only 17 minutes of the music was used in the two-hour movie.

“The Exorcist” became the first horror film to be nominated for and Academy Award for Best Picture. The guitarist was Mike Oldfield. The record label was Virgin Records.

Theme from Halloween, the movie

Director John Carpenter wrote the story for the movie “Halloween” with Debra Hill. He also composed / performed the music for it. The main title has some similarities with Tubular Bells.

• Uncommon time signature or where to put the accents: 5/4 or 10/8; 7/8, 9/8 etc.
• Minor keys
• Constant like clockwork, no rest
• High tempo
• Replicable on the ukulele

Background

A year ago I gave a workshop in Zoom on the characteristics of music that spook and scare. In the one-hour workshop, I gave examples of two tunes used in horror movies that worked well on the ukulele.

When I arrange music for the ukulele, I have to decide between replicating the original score so that you can play along to the movie or soundtrack or change to a different key so that it’s easier and more manageable to play.

In this instance, there was no need to transpose or simplify.

I’m using my one-page arrangement of Tubular Bells in the 3rd class of Ukulele Fall 2024 course on correct right hand fingering and fingerpicking technique.

Purchasers of my Ukulele Exercise Book Bundle may request for the updated version of Hawalloween theme for low G ukulele on a one-page (portrait) PDF.