Millions of people fell in love with the sound of The Last of Us without ever knowing what they were hearing. That fragile, aching main theme — the one that has made grown gamers cry — is built around a nylon-string guitar. The classical guitar's warm, intimate voice, it turns out, is the sound of one of the most acclaimed scores in video-game history.
The man behind the sound: Gustavo Santaolalla
The score is the work of the Argentine composer and producer Gustavo Santaolalla, one of the most distinctive musical voices of his generation. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Score in two consecutive years — for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Babel (2006) — before bringing the same spare, emotional language to The Last of Us game in 2013, its 2020 sequel, and the HBO television series.
Why nylon strings?
Santaolalla's method is famously raw and human. Rather than a polished orchestra, he reaches for a small handful of acoustic instruments and plays them close-miked, so you can hear the fingers on the strings. In The Last of Us you can literally hear the soft brush of his fingertips across nylon strings as he changes chords — and it is exactly that imperfection, that breath of real wood and gut-soft nylon, that makes the music feel so intimate and so sad. A bright steel-string or a full orchestra could never sound this vulnerable.
The ronroco — its secret partner
Alongside the guitar, Santaolalla's signature instrument is the ronroco, a small double-strung Andean instrument related to the charango (it is not a guitar, but a cousin from the same family). Its shimmering, octave-tuned strings give his scores their unmistakable highland glow. Together, nylon guitar and ronroco create the haunted, folk-tinged world that fans recognise in a single bar.
What it means for the classical guitar
The Last of Us is a perfect modern reminder that the nylon-string guitar is not a museum piece. In the hands of a great musician it can carry the emotional weight of a blockbuster, reach an audience of millions, and prove — to a generation that found it through a game controller rather than a concert hall — that there is no more expressive instrument when a story needs a heartbeat.
FAQ
What guitar is used in The Last of Us?
A nylon-string classical guitar, played by composer Gustavo Santaolalla, alongside the Andean ronroco.
Who composed The Last of Us music?
Gustavo Santaolalla, the two-time Oscar-winning Argentine composer of Brokeback Mountain and Babel.
Is the ronroco a guitar?
No — it is a small double-strung Andean instrument related to the charango, used alongside the nylon guitar in the score.
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