The Legend of Zelda, the popular Nintendo game series, first came out around 1987. Like Minecraft, it is nostalgic for many gaming fans, and the music alone can bring back strong sentimental memories. One such familiar song, and one of the most reoccurring throughout the series, is “Zelda’s Lullaby,” written by Koji Kondo.
Get the Sheet Music for “Zelda’s Lullaby” here: https://www.mymusicsheet.com/marisasmusicstudio/195154
“Zelda’s Lullaby” is a sacred song in the game that wields powers, including solving puzzles and opening hidden passages. Handed down through generations, it can only be learned by members of the Royal Family and was Princess Zelda’s lullaby.
When Koji Kondo went to work to compose the game’s music, he skillfully created emotionally-powerful tunes out of limited resources, working with only five tones. It is perhaps this simplicity that makes his music so memorable. In a 2005 interview he explained:
“I had to create all of those memorable tunes with only five tones of the classic do-re-mi scale. Specifically: re, fa, la, and ti (and the higher-scale re). Since each of those songs, like Zelda’s Lullaby or Epona’s Song, had a particular theme, it was quite challenging, but I think it all felt really natural in the end…I got a lot of milage out of just five tones!”
In the game, the character Link must play his musical instrument, the ocarina, in order to progress. Tunes like “Zelda’s Lullaby” were created to match the instrument’s limited tonal range and to be playable on the ocarina.
As for the song’s harmony that is written in various arrangements, color and richness is added with lush seventh chords, a type of extended chord. A seventh chord is a three-note triad with a fourth note added to the top that is a seventh above the root note. For instance, a C major seventh involves a C major triad (C-E-G) with a B added above (the seventh note above root note, C). Seventh chords are a wonderful way to add color and richness to harmony.
In my piano tutorial video above, I’m playing an easy arrangement of “Zelda’s Lullaby” that uses broken seventh chords for accompaniment. It is relaxing and dreamy to play, and easy enough for a beginner to learn.