K-pop Vampire Performance reimagined on the piano! ENHYPEN - 'Criminal Love' Piano Sheet Music Review
- Yeoul Choi
- Jan 24
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 25
ENHYPEN's musical universe is always unique, but Criminal Love stands out as a song fans captivated by the vampire concept call “the very essence of ENHYPEN.” Created as the second OST for the HYBE original webtoon <DARK MOON>, it was released on July 31, 2023, and included in the following year's MEMORABILIA album, continuing to receive immense love from fans all around the world. The piano sheet music version of Criminal Love, recently officially released by HYBE, is also receiving an enthusiastic response among fans who enjoy ENHYPEN's music. If you're a pianist interested in covering K-Pop sheet music, we recommend listening to the original version of Criminal Love featured today and checking out the piano arrangement sheet music introduced here.
Beat and Rhythm: The Charm of Medium Tempo
The track moves at a moderate 60 BPM, yet it never feels sluggish. This is largely due to its 6/8 time signature paired with a swing-inflected rhythm. Creating an idol group dance track at a medium tempo with a swing feel is notoriously difficult; for choreography, producers typically rely on a faster tempo—often around 120 BPM—in a stable 4/4 meter.
Criminal Love boldly subverts this convention. Its 6/8 pulse generates a precarious tension, as if the music could fracture at any moment. The constantly swaying meter, combined with tightly chopped swing phrasing, produces a dance track that is nothing short of mind-blowing—seductive, unstable, and utterly gripping.
Instrumental Timbre and Its Role
While the overall instrumentation is not especially varied, the track foregrounds instruments with highly intense timbres. Cinematic strings and electronic drums dominate the soundscape. These elements are largely synthesized, resulting in a thick, powerful sonic texture.
The grand, film scoring–like strings reinforce the members’ commanding vocals, while the sleek, modern electronic drums inject a contemporary edge. Together, they embody the essence of refined dark pop. The persistent use of dense, weighty timbres throughout the accompaniment generates an overwhelming sense of intensity—one that perfectly aligns with the heart-wrenching, tragic narrative of Criminal Love!
Killing Part: The Heart-Stopping ‘Love’
So, if you had to pick the killing part of Criminal Love, where would you say it is? Without a doubt, the most addictive part is the chorus. When the word ‘Love’ appears in the lyrics, a sound that resembles a gunshot—‘boom-boom-boom’—follows immediately. Fans who've seen the performance will likely remember this; the choreography that hits alongside this sound is just as addictive, amplifying its impact and making the unforgettable moment. This device delivers auditory pleasure while simultaneously making love feel like a deadly weapon that hurts, making it the song's core, killer part.
HYBE's <CRIMINAL LOVE> Piano Sheet Music Performance Guide
Covering an idol dance track with so much charm and narrative on the piano is always thrilling and exciting challenge. It's also fun to imagine how your favorite song, and that killer part you love, might be expressed on the piano. The piano sheet music for Criminal Love released by HYBE is arranged at a difficulty level accessible to intermediate players. However, it goes beyond a simple transcription, showing an effort to preserve the original song's feel while expressing each part with the most diverse and colorful arrangements possible. Alright, are you ready to dive into this sheet music?
Tempo and Rhythmic Approach
Before beginning your performance, it is essential to check the tempo marking indicated in the sheet music. One of the most defining features of this arrangement is the swing rhythm, emphasized from the very first page. Rather than playing the eighth notes evenly, performers should lean into a triplet-based swing feel, allowing the rhythm to roll naturally and groove.
In particular, the triplet figures at the end of the intro directly replicate the original drum rhythm. These passages benefit from a firm, percussive touch on the keyboard to fully capture the driving energy of the source material.
Textural Changes and Expression Techniques by Section
The section where the song begins after the Intro is called the ‘Verse’. In this verse section, the right hand handles the melody with a single line, while the left hand leads the chords and accompaniment rhythm. In contrast, the following section, the pre-chorus, changes the right hand to block chords to express a slightly thicker and clearer texture, while the left hand continues a similar accompaniment pattern. From here on, the key focus is adjusting the balance so the top notes played by the right hand clearly stand out as the melody. This gradual layering of texture reveals an attempt to faithfully convey the original song's heavy feel.
The Killer Part: “Love”
In the original version, the word “love” is punctuated by an intensely powerful electronic bass drum sound. The piano arrangement recreates this effect convincingly by placing the low D in octave unison, producing a striking, bass-drum-like impact. At the same time, the right-hand melody sustains a dense, full texture as the chorus unfolds, reinforcing the dramatic weight of this pivotal moment. This section stands as the emotional and sonic climax of the piece.
Highlighting Vocal Character
As you play through the second verse, you may notice how the arrangement carefully mirrors the vocal characteristics of each member. In measure 43, for example, the rap section performed by Ni-ki returns to a low-register, single-line melody, effectively portraying his naturally deep vocal tone.
In the following part, Heesung, who takes the lyrics “you found in the darkness,” raps in a somewhat higher register. The piano version also reflects this by placing the melody an octave higher. In other words, this isn't just a matter of listing similar notes; it's an approach that highlights the vocal individuality of each member. This aspect brings joy not only to listeners but also to pianists reading the sheet music, allowing them to imagine the original members while playing it.
Conclusion
When performing this sheet music, try to bring out the swing rhythm that appears throughout while also keeping the thick, powerful textures of the original track firmly in mind! If you'd like to see the piano sheet music for Criminal Love, which has reborn ENHYPEN's deadly <Dark Moon> narrative through a colorful arrangement, click this link right now to check out the sheet music here!
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