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Frame from Vader's Redemption: The Imperial March in a Major Key Plays via YouTube's privacy-enhanced embed

Vader's Redemption: The Imperial March in a Major Key

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Cited on HN 3 times, 2020–2024, never outright recommended score 0
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

Used as a counter-example in music theory discussions to show how mode changes a melody's mood.

A complete rendition of John Williams' Imperial March rearranged in a major key. The change turns Vader's menacing theme into something triumphant.

“The canonical video on the subject” (HN, 2024)

2 citations · 1 jokes · Music

3 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@dragontamer Feb 2020 Cites it
on HN thread Musicians algorithmically generate melodies, release them to public domain
Though you asked for an example... but maybe its best to show a counter-example instead? Here's the Imperial Death March played in a Major-scale, instead of a minor scale. [this video] If everything was in an 8-note (no accidental, transpositions only) measure, they'd sound like "Vader's redemption". To sound sad, you MUST shift to a minor key. A minor key has sharps and flats to create tension. Any "sad sounding" song cannot be properly played in a major key.
Counter-example of Imperial March in a major key
@Kye Jul 2024 Cites it
on HN thread Tritone Substitutions
The canonical video on the subject: [link] Some people will naively say "All music has pentatonic! Universal!" but ignore vital cultural context. One example in the video is ragas: they can look a lot like Western scales and modes, but they have a time and context. Western music also has a time and context, but it doesn't stand out as much to us unless someone goes full ham breaking that context like with the Imperial March in a Major mode: [this video] It changes the mood from "this is the bad guys!" to something more positive and triumphant.
Imperial March in major mode changes mood to triumphant

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