When lecturing or writing about the JawsВ music I often resort to using the вЂњtwo-noteвЂќ thematic reference to avoid the raised eyebrows and puzzled looks I would expect to receive if I pretentiously interjected the elusive third note into my discussion. ItвЂ™s trivial and of no consequence however, itвЂ™s tremendously important and has been a pet peeve of mine for many years. JawsВ isnвЂ™t about a swimming shark, itвЂ™s about aВ bitingВ shark, and with the DвЂ™s in the theme, this is indeed a great white shark thatВ bites! Potentially terrifying, but still fairly innocuous. Without the DвЂ™s, itвЂ™s simply a swimming shark. The oscillation clearly conjures up an image of a swimming shark but itвЂ™s the accented DвЂ™s in the ostinato that recall the quick attacking jabs of the sharkвЂ™s jaws as he nips and bites at things in the ocean. The initial oscillation between E and F perfectly illustrates a swimming great white shark on the prowl however, the DвЂ™s are aurally representative of the actualВ biteВ of the shark itself. Why is this important? Why canвЂ™t we just keep referring to it as a вЂњtwo-noteвЂќ theme? For starters, this third and often neglected note is massivelyВ important to the character and success of the overall theme itself. As the oscillation condenses, it bounces back-and-forth between these two notes until measure 12 when a new note (D) is introduced into the fabric of the oscillation (circled in red).

You can clearly see the initial motivic element in the basses starting on a single note (E) which slowly builds an oscillation between the fundamental pitch and a secondary note (F) a half-step away. The selections below were extracted from the original conductorвЂ™s score scribed by Herbert Spencer (John Williams' principal orchestrator at the time). LetвЂ™s take a look at the original manuscript. There are actually three notes to the iconic Jaws theme! While I understand the contextual references are sound, it is in fact incorrect. I own it myself and wear it proudly, but youвЂ™ll see it only shows the two notes, E-F.ДЄsk anybody, scour the internet, talk amongst your film friends, and youвЂ™ll find an epidemic of вЂњtwo-noteвЂќ utterances in reference to the iconic music from Jaws. How often have you heard John WilliamsвЂ™ Jaws (1975) theme referred to as having вЂњtwo-notesвЂќ? How many times have you actually referred to the Jaws theme as having вЂњtwo-notesвЂќ? Exhibit A)вЂ¦Check out the t-shirt below. Well, IвЂ™ve got one and I aim to correct it! These fallacies are usually trivial with no real consequence however, to those immersed in the subject over long periods of time, it can turn into an irritating pet peeve. Everybody's an expert in something, right? IвЂ™m sure youвЂ™ve come across a nugget of information that folks outside your field accept as common knowledge even though you know itвЂ™s not wholly accurate. People who are passionate, knowledgeable and spend an exorbitant amount of time focused on a particular subjectВ can often develop adverse responses to widely-held beliefs that are, in fact, erroneous.

Jaws theme song