Play along to Oscar nominated songs in the LUMI Music app

Awards season is in full swing! With the Grammys now behind us, the next big night of awards hype in Hollywood focuses our attention on the silver screen for the Oscars. Fans of all forms of film tuned in to watch our idols file into Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre in celebration of this year's Academy Awards, keen to see the winners and snubs of 2024. We at LUMI celebrated the event by taking a look at the music behind these works of film, which constantly elevates the art of motion picture to another level.

A brief history of the Oscars

The Oscars, formally known as The Academy Awards, began in 1929, making this year’s event on the 10th of March the 96th edition. That’s 30 more years of history than the Grammys! It also already puts the 100th anniversary in reach, which we can look forward to in 2028.

The two extravaganzas also differ greatly in number of awards given, with some years surpassing 100 awards given by the Recording Academy, whereas the Oscars have held firm with a tight 24 awards. These awards focus on both individuals, such as the actors or musical composers, as well as the entire productions. While a number of new awards have been considered or added to the Oscars for a time, the structure of this ceremony is much less fluid than music’s ever-expanding pool of genres needing representation.

If you are interested, The Academy of Motion Picture and Sciences offers a complete archive of the ceremonies since 1929.

The history and role of music in film

While the relationship between moving image and sound might seem obvious, technology has not always allowed for it. Many of us at least recognize the phrase "silent films" even if we have not seen one ourselves. These were the only ways to produce film, a budding art form which birthed the film industry at the turn of the 20th century. And while the silent film era often included music performed live in a theater, there was no music written for and included in the film's physical medium. From the silent era, we moved into what is referred to as "The Golden Age" of film.

Between the 1930s and 1950s, composers and musicians around the world were experimenting with their musical expression alongside what felt like a separate art form for the first time. This is where some of the most iconic scores rose to fame, at least before electronic music entered into the picture.

The Golden Age made the idea of being a "film composer" possible for the first time, offering an exciting new profession for countless talented composers. Thus, many of the best classical composers were dipping their toe in a new genre and work opportunity. For many of these now-called film composers, the centerpiece of the film music writing process was the piano. While the final composition on a film's soundtrack might be performed by an ensemble of classical musicians, the piano is often the core place for developing the idea.

This is because the piano surface allows for a wide range of octaves to hear what contributions from four or more instruments playing at once would sound like. A chord with three notes becomes a violin, oboe and bass. A complex pattern of intertwining notes might be the blending of a flutist and cellist.

Over time, Hollywood film music found its footing and eventually began experimenting in all directions. Outside of only classical music, film scores began pulling from jazz influences, sound effects, and new technologies. As each new music genre arrived, they managed to find their way into film music, inching us ever closer to the eclectic scores of today, where we can never know what to expect. Orchestral scores, other-worldly soundscapes, and original songs also profitable in popular music alike have all found their home in film, which makes it impossible to imagine those early days of silent movies.

Learning the most famous film scores with LUMI

As piano learners, looking to film can be a powerful tool. This can come in an informal sense, such as having your instrument nearby while you watch a movie and jamming along when music is played. You don’t know the key or the song, but you’re seeing what notes sound good. It’s both ear training, which is incredibly important for a musician, and a low-pressure way to form a deeper connection with your instrument.

However, there are formal methods of learning film scores, which is where the LUMI Music App comes in. If you’re reading this, we hope you already have access to the app, but if you don’t, you can learn more here.

Among the over 500 songs to practice and master within the app, a number of your options have been awarded Best Film Score. This often goes to orchestral masterpieces – quite notably, John Williams – but has also gone to a number of popular artists for their contributions to film specifically.

The aforementioned Williams has taken home a number of these awards over his career, with four of them possible to learn through the LUMI Music App:

🏆 John Williams, theme from Jaws (1975)

🏆  John Williams, theme from Star Wars (1977) – There are a few Star Wars tracks to play in the LUMI App, not only the famous theme!

🏆  John Williams, theme from E.T. (1982)

🏆  John Williams Schindler’s List (1993)

Some popular songs you can learn which won this award include: 

🏆  "Let it Be" by the Beatles 

🏆  "Purple Rain" by Prince

🏆  “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” by Harold Arlen

🏆  “Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany's

🏆  “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion

🏆  “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, from A Star is Born

🏆  “A Whole New World” from Aladdin

🏆  “City Of Stars” from La La Land

🏆  “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish, from Barbie

🏆  “Let It Go” by Idina Menzel, from Frozen

You can also find a few winners of the Best Original Song award, such as Celine Dion’s "My Heart Will Go On", awarded for the 1997 use in Titanic. The list goes on with many Academy Award nominated theme songs that didn’t result in an Oscar win, but are beloved in their own right.

From film scores to popular songs, the LUMI App offers a flexible and varied approach to learning piano. It can dynamically shape around your goals, from including the music mentioned above to formal courses, games, and theory exercises.

This year’s nominees for music sync and film scoring

As we’ve touched on, The Academy distinguishes between film scores, generally writing for large band and orchestral productions, and film music. The latter indicates a focus on individual songs, popular productions which join the film in the way of sync.

Sync is a word often used in advertising, when you hear one of your favorite songs promoting a detergent or insurance you have no interest in. It has become a major revenue stream for thousands of artists around the world as the industry has changed how musicians make a living. The original music played alongside the film joins the soundtrack album to coincide with the film’s release, and can also provide standalone streaming revenue to the artist.

The Oscars present the top of the top of these artists. Jon Batiste, who you might remember as the bandleader for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for many years, was one of five such artists up for the winner of Best Song. This list also includes compositions by Billie Eilish and Mark Ronson for 2023’s Barbie, with Billie Eilish taking home the 2024 Best Original Song award for “What Was I Made For?” – which you can now learn to play in the LUMI app!

The Best Score category is a bit more predictable, as it often aligns with the nominees for Best Picture or films that are dominating a number of other categories. This year was no different, with nominations for the now award-winning score of Ludwig Göransson for Oppenheimer, Laura Karpman for American Fiction, and John Williams once again for the most recent Indiana Jones film.

For the full list of songs, Billboard put together a nice preview to read in more depth.

Watch and learn with Oscar-nominated music

If any of the film music from past and present Oscar nominees has caught your ear, you can get inspired by the many YouTube playlists which consolidate some of the most famous movie scores. Or better yet, grab your LUMI Keys! Can you play along and find some of the correct notes or chords?

Learning an instrument comes with a varied approach, and it helps to try things differently from time to time. Through film and other mediums of art which incorporate sound, your journey from beginner to bandmate, solo performer, or even composer is within reach.