Game of Thrones, the number 1 tv show in terms of illegal downloading, is famous for its unexpected outcomes, like the execution of Ned Stark. But few of GoT’s followers know about the tv show’s music. So here’s a look out about everything you should know about music in GoT.

Warning : for those who never saw an episode, there will be a bit of spoilers regarding the first two seasons

Who composed it and how

- Ramin Djawadi: a reference amongst composers.

The main architect of Game of Throne’s music ambiance is Ramin Djawadi. He is without a doubt one of the best out there in terms of tv shows soundtracks, and if you need proof, we can assume the Emmy award he has been rewarded with for Prison Break’s music should be enough.

His impressive work gives a real added value to the show, as it makes you dive even further into the story, and makes you feel the way you should when you see a critical scene. For example, when Arya takes revenge upon Polliver at the end of “Two Swords”, the music heard enhances the feeling of satisfaction. Try listening to the same music in Jazz version, you will see what I mean.

- Two bands that merit to be known

In addition to that fantastic composer, GoT also succeeded in having cool bands playing the songs for them. Indeed, we can hear The National or The Hold Steady playing the 2 famous songs of the show: “The Rains of The Rains of Castamere - The National” and “The Bear and the Maiden Fair”. What’s more, they didn’t play it only in medieval style, but added a little touch of indie, and that makes the musical performance even more particular!

- The instruments you will and won’t find

There are mostly strings and percussions in GoT’s music. Indeed, they are the most appropriate instruments to make you feel the grandeur of the scenes, or their profound implication. What you will not hear though are the vocals. David Benioff and D.B Weiss, the tv show’s makers, prohibited Djawadi from using vocals, so as to avoid the comparison with other successful fantasy productions like Lord of the Rings. As for the piano, the composer considered that it didn’t belong to this world. But don’t worry, you can still find the main theme piano version here!

- When is the music created

According to his own saying during his interview with thecredits.org, what he usually does is wait for the show to be fully shot, watch it entirely and then compose the music. That way, he and his team knew “where the music will go” so they could stick to the story’s development. For example, they decided to make Daenery’s theme grow, following the growth of her dragons and of her power. And that totally makes sense as it gives more life to the character.

The ninth episodes’ music

Even though there is only two real songs in George RR Martin’s masterpiece, the tv show succeeded in making a third one recognizable between many: the main theme. But there are other themes that are less known and yet are still crucial to deliver the maximum impact in the climatic episodes.

- Ned Stark’s death

This theme is quite orphan considering it has no real title. And indeed it is just set for ambiance. But what would it be without it? We wouldn’t have the same feeling of horror, injustice and sadness we all experienced. The dramatic sense it gives to the scene is crucial as it leaves you in shock, to an extent that Djawadi rapidly understood that only silence could convene to end the episode!

- Blackwater and The Rains of Castamere

Those two episodes have one thing in common: the victory of the Lannisters over their enemies. As much as we hate them, we are forced to recognize their supremacy when it comes to diplomacy. So it is only logical that the author chose “The Rains of Castamere” as the “official song” for The Red Wedding. Consequently, the makers of the show and the composer decided to use it as well for Blackwater to celebrate their victory against Stannis after a gruesome battle.

- The Watchers on the wall

This episode, considered as the most epic one throughout the four seasons, has a proper theme song, but again that theme song has no title. And it is becoming pretty common to have those, making them difficult to get them on the internet. However, you can find this one here.

That music is another proof that without it, the scenes would be less complete. Indeed, we can hear lots of percussions and sounds of horns, imitating the rumbling of giants and mammoths, as well as the charge of the massive wild’s armies. So when we hear that music, we can tremble for the night’s watch lives that are about to be wiped out.

Families, worlds and music: a complicated relationship

Still according to Djawani, it was no easy feat to invent music to match with so many different worlds, characters and intrigues. But he really succeeded, and reading the books to imagine those worlds really helped him out. Undoubtedly, composing something to give the right impression about Mereen at the beginning of the show must have been really difficult. Obviously, everyone who reads the books would have thought about an oriental oriented music, but then again you had to have read the books!

Moreover, composing a theme song for characters has been really complicated, admitted Djawani, as a seemingly very important character could die at any moment. So, he and his team had to wait to see how the characters evolved before deciding if they “deserved a song”, like they did for Tyrion. Indeed, he only got one at the second season, funny when we know now what importance he developed during the last two seasons.

True fans can find the best covers of GoT's musics here, or you can make your own and share it on Jellynote!