The hidden princess
There is a mysterious young warrior that has been waiting for the return of Link for seven long years. Is it a friend or foe? The music tells us immediately that there is nothing to be afraid of.
Sheik, one of the most memorable characters encountered in Ocarina of Time, is the cryptic Sheikah ninja that watches over Link for the remainder of the adult portion of the game, appearing or disappearing without notice as only the best ninjas do, and whose encounters feel as oases in the middle of the destruction and environmental damage cast upon Hyrule. Her soothing and encouraging words are accompanied by an appropriate cue that extracts every last drop of power that could be gained from a MIDI performance at the time by making full use of the dynamics, expression and articulation of its two instruments.
It seems royalty and their bodyguards are adept at playing musical instruments since this warrior plays a lyre; unsurprisingly, her cue is arranged for how such an instrument could sound. Like only the best royals do in war times, the Hylian crown actively participates in the field. Ocarina of Time introduced the notion of a damsel not so in distress into the series, creating a true and memorable plot twist. Her theme in disguise form remains caring but also yearning to see her kingdom the way it was before mistakes were made.
Only the music gives away the dual identity of this lyre-wielding warrior.
Musical Analysis
Structure: Section 1 / Section 2 / Section 3
Time Signature: 3/4
Tempo: Dynamic (between120 and 50)
Melodic and Harmonic Profiles: Bb Ionian/Major
You see, Sheik herself plays the lyre, teaching Link new melodies and continuing the musical motif of the game. Her tune uses the harp, the lyre’s younger brother, to represent the sonority of that ancient string instrument. With it, we get a chordal melody, meaning here that each note has an underlying chord as opposed to standard accompaniment, with an appropriate harp strum style.
The dreamy harmony provided by the accompaniment harp interwoven seamlessly into the track deserves to be heard by itself:
Its rapid changing chords implying at all times lush, extended harmony with just a few notes—a specialty of composers who cut their teeth on the limited NES era. They are played with the characteristic sweep glissando strumming of a real harp.
Unpacking some of this impressionistic harmony reveals a descending motion in the chords; there isn’t a song that can’t be reduced to its more bare essential elements in order to look directly at its core and this song is no exception. The superficial underlying harmony can be interpreted as:
Bbadd9 – Cm7 – Dm – Am7(b5) – F7] – [Repeat]
[Bbadd9 – Cm7 – Am7(b5) – F7] – [Repeat]
[Bbadd9 – Cm7 – Dm7 – Cm7 – Dm7 – Am7(b5) – F7]
These dressed up extended chords can be simplified to reveal the more pure harmony of
[Bb – Eb – Dm – Cm – F] – [Bb – Eb – Dm – Adim – F]
[Bb – Eb – Adim – F] – [repeat]
[Bb – Eb – Dm – Eb – Dm – Cm – F]
We can even go further and just have the melody played on top of fifth intervals and the spirit of the piece will still be preserved:
[Bb5 – Eb5 – D5 – A5(b5) – F5] – [Repeat]
[Bb5 – Eb5 – C5 – F5] – [Bb5 – Eb5 – A5(b5) – F5]
[Bb5 – Eb5 – D5 – Eb5 – D5 – A5 (b5) – F5]
(As you can see from these examples, in this context the Cm chord and the Adim chord pretty much give the same vibe and can be substituted for each other depending on the color you prefer).
Even though the piece has a major profile, the tonic only plays at the beginning of phrases which often end on the dominant that leaves these melodic phrases as open questions. Thus we ger some broken perfect cadences, adding a more wistful tone than you could get from I – IV – V progressions.
The melody consists of three main distinctive question-answer pairs, in which the upper notes limit themselves to the nostalgic major pentatonic scale, this combined with the fact that the harmony accompaniment never settles on the tonic give the piece a more sorrowful tone than would be characteristic of a major profile. It seems this Sheik fella has some unresolved grief. The dynamic tempo that makes for a rubato performance adds an extra tinge of melancholy.
And speaking of Sheik, her true identity is only revealed near the end of the game, but Koji Kondo sneaks a clue that gives away who is behind the mask of this lyric-wielding warrior. The very last section of the this expressive piece has ingrained the main motif of Zelda’s Lullaby; the theme of the princess is repeated two times in a quick flick [G-Bb-F]. A spoiler that foretells us that, for the first time in the series, this damsel may not necessarily be in distress.
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