John Williams - Star Wars Main Theme - Guitar Tab

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

1980 5:47

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About Star Wars Main Theme

Few melodies are as immediately recognizable as the Star Wars Main Theme, and pulling it off convincingly on guitar takes more care than it first appears. Written by John Williams and rooted in Bb major, the piece sits in a key that does not fall naturally under the fingers on a standard-tuned guitar, so expect some stretching in the upper positions and consider whether a capo serves your arrangement. At 120 BPM the march feel is brisk, and keeping your pick attack even and confident is what gives the melody its brass-like authority. The opening fanfare phrase, with its rising fourth followed by the ascending scalar run, is the passage most guitarists want to nail first. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop that run slowed down until each note speaks cleanly before you bring it back up to tempo. Fingerpicking arrangers will find the left-hand chord voicings in Bb particularly demanding, while lead players need to watch their intonation carefully in the upper register. The Soundtrack context means dynamics and phrasing matter as much as note accuracy.

• The melody is written in Bb major, a key that requires careful upper-fret positioning on guitar and may benefit from a capo depending on your arrangement.
• At 120 BPM the march tempo is faster than it sounds on first listen, so loop the opening fanfare phrase slowed down using the Practice Toolbar to lock in even note spacing.
• The signature rising-fourth motif that opens the theme is the core technical challenge, demanding clean single-note articulation and consistent pick or finger attack across strings.