A (made up) game soundtrack in the form of a piano book.
17 short pieces suitable for beginner-intermediate piano, inspired by RPG soundtrack standards~
So we have character themes – scene-setting for places like mountains, underground exploration, happy and unhappy towns – battle music of course – a main theme that becomes an airship theme… Look out for melodies returning in other forms later in the “story”. Many of the pieces highlight a particular musical feature or piano technique. Broadly speaking, the music at the start is easier and it gets a little harder later.
You can download the sheet music (free!) either as individual pieces, below, or the whole book. Contact form below if you have any questions.
Sara
August-September 2026
Here’s a little about the pieces / tasting notes / behind the scenes – there’s a brief performance note before each piece in the sheet music too.
1. To Start a Journey [pdf]
A prologue, and a Main Character’s theme. I imagined a medic/soldier character. With potential to develop into a paladin/white mage, perhaps. Can you hear their personality? Rather gentle, tendency to loyalty and contentment, inquisitive and a little wistful. But where will this journey take us?
As for the music? This probably is the most straightforward piece, hands stay in 5-finger positions. Work on making it sound nice and flow.
2. Battle [pdf]
IT’S A BATTLE THEME. I mean it’s very obviously early-mid Final Fantasy series inspired, simplified. That kind of scale/mode. Some fun syncopation. It’s one that I probably meant to be easier to play than it actually was — don’t be like me, practise it slowly first, ok? (it’s really not that bad at all.)
3. Red Sky in the Morning [pdf]
Shifting harmoniiiiies. Here we are in uneasy territory. A bit depressive. But not too static as it goes on. The left hand bass line in the second half really is a bass line: imagine it played on Acoustic Bass midi instrument. (ref — The Mines of Narshe, Anxious Heart.)
4. The Ascent [pdf]
Final Fantasy games always used to have a climbing-a-mountain area and corresponding theme, I feel like. Here’s our first link to another piece — this uses some of the same material as 2. Battle
5. Crystal Bells [pdf]
Mysteriousness and magic! is it good or bad? it’s not quite clear, perhaps. It’s a little unexpected. The time sig keeps changing. As does the key, if there even is one.
6. Dauntless [pdf]
Heroic character theme! This character’s job class is Prince or Queen x Driver, Pilot or Engineer. Or a mix of all of those. She’s probably a bit much really but we love her.
This theme comes back in 11. Though We Should See Darker Days
7. Labyrinthine [pdf]
Another location! Here we are in a dungeon that’s very much underground. Maybe underwater. Certainly there are strange rock formations and twisting passageways and probably a whole bunch of puzzles that you’re trying to solve but you keep being interrupted by random battles — anyway, when that’s not happening, this is the music you get.
8. Main Theme [pdf]
And the world map opens up to you! Sense of openness and exploration. It starts slightly soft and mysterious. Leans grand and expansive. Little modal shifts of harmony. Practise staccato in the left hand and legato melody in the right.
This theme comes back, airborne, in 13. The Sky-Ship Kestrel
9. Everyday Life [pdf]
A town theme that’s peaceful and lovely, of course! Very little else to say about this. Sing it out.
10. Storm-Gatherer [pdf]
I wonder if the villain might have a tragic backstory and a childhood-friend-type connection to a protagonist. For now, this is just a dramatic and imposing entrance! Some funny chromatics with funny fingerings that absolutely work, trust me. See also 15. Trickster
11. Though We Should See Darker Days [pdf]
I’ve always loved the very simple concept of ‘main version character theme’, ‘sad/soft version character theme’. Final Fantasy VI and VII did this especially explicitly. This is based on 3. Dauntless. It’s not entirely sad, just more melancholy; a revealing character-deepening flashback, or a pivotal moment of serious decision, something like this.
12. The Elder [pdf]
The funnest thing here is the parallel 7ths in the LH. We seem to be in a bit more of a serious contemplative part of the story here, with this character. Might be a bit wise and stoic and all that I suppose — probably a nice sort beneath the gruff exterior though.
13. The Sky-Ship Kestrel [pdf]
You bet we get an airship! And it’s named after my favourite character from The Animals of Farthing Wood when I was little, and it features a whole bunch of SCALES, aren’t we lucky? And the tune, you guessed it, is from 8. Main Theme
14. Capriol Castle [pdf]
I don’t know if this is really our first visit to the castle, at this point in the story, but you have to put pieces in an order, and this isn’t one of the easier ones, sooo. Just a few more scales 😀 And some more detail in the dynamics and articulation to make it ping.
15. Trickster [pdf]
Sharing material with our villain-type theme, 10. Storm-Gatherer. but more… tricksy. Lighter. Sneaky. Crushed notes. Chromatics.
16. Never Give Up [pdf]
It’s boss battle theme! Which here means compound time and driving but not too fast, and it’s just really important to bounce the bass line notes or you won’t get the repeated notes. And, of course, to learn it slowly first! Metronome practise probably wouldn’t go amiss either, ASK ME HOW I KNOW. Have fun!
17. To Find a Home [pdf]
Full circle. It’s a major key but also more emotive and squishy take on the prologue first track 1. To Start a Journey. A wee bit Ghibli-like too, maybe, if you like that kind of thing. The story has wrapped up. Triumphantly, I think we can say, though it was a hard fought victory.