Just two notes are all it takes for John Williams to build tension in his famous composition for the film 鈥淛aws.鈥�
鈥淲e don't see the shark at the beginning, but we know there's something there,鈥� said Daniel Goldmark, head of popular music studies at Case Western Reserve University. 鈥淚t all just comes down to this very, very tiny little paring of sounds that turns into something really, well, monstrous.鈥�
Repetition is another musical technique that comes up often in soundtracks for scary movies. Other commonalities include minor keys and held-out dissonances, where the notes seem to disagree.
鈥淵ou can think about the music for a lot of really signature scary films, 鈥楶sycho,鈥� 鈥楬alloween,鈥� 鈥楾he Exorcist,鈥� often they involve repetition and getting into this space where you're kind of being lulled into, 鈥極h, everything's okay.鈥� And that's where something terrible can happen,鈥� Goldmark said.
He and a couple of other Ohio music experts weighed in on the familiar tunes that send chills down spines, particularly around Halloween.
鈥淭occata and Fugue in D minor by Bach was used a lot in silent films back in the day,鈥� said Michael Ferraguto, head librarian for the Cleveland Orchestra.
Instruments, like the pipe organ used to score those films, also play a role in creating spooky moods in music.
鈥淲e think a lot of vampires and the Phantom of the Opera with the pipe organ,鈥� Ferraguto said. 鈥淚t's got this massive sound. It is also associated with this gothic architecture, spookiness.鈥�
Ferraguto said he particularly enjoys the use of instruments in the final movement of 鈥淪ymphonie Fantastique鈥� by Hector Berlioz, influenced by the story that goes with it.
鈥淭here's an E-flat clarinet solo that sounds like a kind of cackling, insane witch. And beneath that are these bubbling bassoons that I kind of always imagine as a kind of a cauldron,鈥� he said.
The opening theme of Stanley Kubrick鈥檚 1980 film 鈥淭he Shining鈥� also adapted a selection of 鈥淪ymphonie Fantastique,鈥� which plays as a car navigates to a remote hotel in the mountains.
Stories and what鈥檚 on screen heavily influence what is considered scary in music.
For instance, Darth Vader鈥檚 theme from 鈥淪tar Wars,鈥� also composed by John Williams, flips the script musically speaking, according to Sammy Gardner, associate professor of music theory at Oberlin College & Conservatory.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like a major triad 鈥� this chord that we think of as like prototypical happy,鈥� Gardner said.
Songs not currently considered scary in culture could be if they were paired with a frightening visual, Gardner suggested. He gave as an example 鈥淟ose Yourself鈥� by Eminem, which is frequently played to build excitement at sporting events.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really easy to imagine how this 鈥� pump-up anthem can become really, really scary if you were to imagine, say, like Freddy Krueger or Darth Vader, like over top of this thing,鈥� Gardner said.
Haunting music often doesn鈥檛 turn people away in terror but instead draws them in.
鈥淢usic and art in general provide a safe space to kind of explore those emotions,鈥� Gardner said.
