Bizarre Songs I Teach

“So I guess you just shred and jam all day long then right?” That’s one of the questions I am most frequently asked. Funnily enough the answer is NO.

Sure, jamming and shredding is a part of it. But at UGA, one of our focuses is to teach what students like. And while we are always teaching students a wide range of contemporary music (like Metallica, Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Queen, AC/DC and so much more) I’ve found myself teaching some REALLY bizarre stuff. Songs, themes, video game music, traditional pieces, Minecraft parodies, Roblox parodies and even memes – yes, memes.

Here are some of the most unusual “songs” I’ve ever taught:

Windows XP Startup Sound. What’s this, you ask? You know the sound that your computer makes when you turn it on? That.

Windows XP Error Note. It’s a C, if you want to try it at home.

Pokemon Go Song. You know Misha, the kid who sings it on Youtube? Well I’ve taught the music for it. Even the solo.

Yee. Ever seen the Dinosaur meme that has a song ending with “yee”? Well I’ve taught the song that matches the meme.

We Are Number One from Lazytown.

Toyota Theme. “Oh what a feeling? To-yo-ta!”

McDonald’s Theme. Next time you see one of their ad’s have a close listen to the melody played as they display their logo.

Batman Riff. A short little melody that is used a lot throughout the old Batman movies from the 80’s and 90’s.

Take Back The Night by Captain Sparklez. This is an original Minecraft themed song. This is actually one of my favourite songs to teach, partially because it has some picking that students can learn to go with it. It’s super basic, but it’s really grown on me.

Don’t Mine At Night. This is a Minecraft parody of Last Friday Night by Katy Perry.

I Found A Diamond. Another original Minecraft themed song.

Usher Sesame Street. The singer, Usher, was one Sesame Street in 2013 and performed a piece about the Alphabet. I had to figure this out and then teach it for a student’s Music In Education topic. It was hilarious and actually sounded awesome.

Phone Number – literally someone’s number. You play the fret number of the phone’s number. So the number 555-375 would be frets 5, 5, 5, 3, 7 and 5. It rarely sounds good.

Megalovania from Undertale (Video Game).

Destiny Theme. An orchestral theme from the video game.

Hopes And Dreams

Fall Out Theme. Another video game theme.

Horizon Zero Dawn Theme. Another orchestral video game theme.

Fortnite Dance Themes. In the video game “Fortnite”, characters can perform little dances with themed music. I’ve taught some of these themes.

And that’s what friends are For. A student and I made this up. It’s a little melody and some chords that match. It sounds like something from a TV comedy show with the tag line “And That’s What Friends Are For”

Skyrim Theme. Yet another video game theme.

Random soundcloud girl song. A few years back, a student stumbled across a song on Soundcloud. No one famous, just an ordinary person who wrote and recorded a song. She liked it, wanted to learn it and so I emailed this random stranger and asked for the chords. She sent them to me and we learnt the song. How funny!

Skydoesminecraft theme. There’s a Youtube channel called “Skydoesminecraft” and he has a theme song. It’s really just a simple picking melody, but it sounds really dramatic and cool.

Daredevil Theme. From the Marvel TV series that’s now finished.

Jessica Jones Theme. Another Marvel TV series theme.

Luke Cage Theme. Another Marvel TV series theme.

This Is Halloween from The Nightmare Before Christmas. A student wanted to learn the vocal melody, so after many hours of listening and figuring it out, we did it. It took us about six months to learn the whole thing.

Stranger Things Theme. Theme from the Netflix series.

Mortal Kombat theme (from the 90’s film). A techno theme from the mid-90’s film.

Goosebumps iPad Game, Ghost Town. A student wanted to learn some of the background music, so I figured it out for them. It was a bizarre little melody that, if memory serves correct, was in the Harmonic Minor mode.

And now, the one that I would say is the strangest of all… The Doorbell. This is a short melody that’s common for use in doorbells. My Grandad used to have it at his house back in the 90’s.

As you can see, any piece of music that may be out there in the world, no matter how bizarre, can be put on guitar in one way or another. Whilst this is mostly for the students enjoyment, they actually develop a lot of skill from the process, which is largely due to the difficult nature of many orchestral themes.