Write Themes People Remember!
Learn the exact techniques Hollywood composers use to make melodies catchy, memorable and instantly recognizable
Learn From the Greatest Themes!
Break down the identity, hook and structure of classic themes – from Star Wars and Superman to The Pink Panther and Mission: Impossible
From First Idea to Finished Theme!
Watch four brand-new themes get written from scratch – for a character, a setting, a scene and an idea
The Memorable Melody Blueprint | Theme Writing Masterclass
The Memorable Melody Blueprint is a masterclass on how Hollywood composers write melodies people never forget. Ryan Leach – an award-winning composer with credits including Disney and Netflix – distills the craft of theme writing into one clear blueprint: design the identity, create the hook, structure the phrases.
Every section follows the same three steps: Ryan explains the concept, breaks it down in classic themes – from Star Wars, Superman and Spartacus to The Pink Panther, Mission: Impossible and The Shape of Water – and then writes brand-new themes from scratch, so you see every decision as it happens. By the end, four complete themes have been written before your eyes: for a character, a setting, a scene and an abstract idea.
This theme writing masterclass is deliberately compact: about 2.5 hours of focused training for composers who want their melodies to be catchy, memorable, and to truly support a film, game or TV project.
Ryan Leach
As an 8 year old growing up in South Australia, Ryan started studying guitar so that he could play Beatles songs, which marked the beginning of a lifelong passion for music. Now an award winning composer for Film and TV, his music has been heard on every major network with clients including Disney, The California Lottery, MTV, Lowe’s, Rainn Wilson's SoulPancake, and the Netflix Original film Candy Jar. Before branching out as a freelance composer, Ryan earned a degree in Film Scoring from Berklee College of Music and worked as assistant to veteran composer Michael Levine at Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions.
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The Three-Step Theme Blueprint
Every section follows the same three steps: understand the concept, see it in classic themes, then watch brand-new themes get written from scratch:
This course is divided by the following steps:
Design the Identity
Before a single note of melody is written, every great theme has an identity – the harmonic, melodic and rhythmic character that makes it feel heroic, mysterious, playful or dangerous. Ryan shows how key and mode choices (major, minor, Phrygian, Lydian and beyond), interval shapes and rhythmic personality define that character, analyzing themes like the Force Theme, Superman, Spartacus, The Pink Panther and Mission: Impossible.
Then it's your turn: you'll watch Ryan design identities from scratch for a brand-new character and an action scene.
- harmonic identity: keys, modes & color
- melodic shape & intervals
- rhythm, meter & tempo
- identity analysis of classic themes
Create the Hook
The hook is the melody itself – the two to four bars you instantly recognize as "that theme". Ryan explains why repetition and simplicity are the real secrets behind memorable melodies, and introduces the "basic idea": the first complete musical statement that carries the whole theme.
You'll see how the hooks of Forrest Gump, Pirates of the Caribbean, Married Life and other classics work – and then follow along as Ryan turns his own identities into hooks.
- repetition & simplicity
- the "basic idea" concept
- hook analysis of classic themes
- writing hooks from an identity
Structure the Phrases
A hook is not yet a theme. In the final section Ryan shows how composers expand a two-bar idea into a complete 8 to 16 bar melody: the hidden "clear path" that guides a theme from beginning to end, plus the essentials of the sentence, the period and what Ryan calls the John Williams form.
The masterclass closes with four complete themes written start to finish – for a character, a setting, a scene and an abstract idea.
- the "clear path" behind great themes
- sentence & period essentials
- the John Williams form
- four complete themes, start to finish
Course Curriculum
Walkthroughs
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