Back to the Future - Theme - Guitar Cover

About Theme

The "Theme" from Back to the Future is one of those pieces that translates surprisingly well to guitar, sitting in C major at a clean 120 BPM, which gives you enough room to focus on note accuracy before pushing the tempo. The melody is the heart of it, and getting that singing, legato quality on guitar takes careful attention to pick attack and left-hand pressure. In E Standard tuning, you can voice the main theme comfortably in the middle register of the neck, but finding the right position to keep the melodic line smooth is worth spending time on. The rhythmic momentum of 120 BPM means syncopated figures, if you choose to arrange the orchestral hits as chords, can easily feel rushed. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop those transitional bars slowed down until the timing feels natural rather than forced. Back to the Future sits in the broader world of Alternative Rock on this site, though the theme itself draws from cinematic orchestral writing, so treat it as an ear-training and arrangement challenge as much as a technique one.

• Playing the theme in C major on a guitar in E Standard tuning lets you use open voicings to add resonance to the main melodic line.
• At 120 BPM the piece is moderate in pace, but keeping the melody legato and even across string changes is the real technical challenge.
• If you arrange the orchestral hits as guitar chords, use the Practice Toolbar to loop those sections slowed down and lock in the rhythmic placement.