At this stage a lesson in Music Basics seems appropriate to those music lovers who have not looked at music analytically and dissected it into its components.

Music Basics

Music is broadly divided into Rhythm, Melody and Harmony. Vocal Music has the added dimension of Lyrics. In order to understand music you need to study these parameters carefully.

RHYTHM : This is the most basic factor in any form of music and seems to come naturally to most people. They say that the heart beats rhythmically in every human being and thus every human being is born with rhythm! I wonder sometimes when I see people clapping totally out of beat or even tapping their feet wrong. Nevertheless, this is the most rudimentary facet of music and all tribal music will have strong rhythmic motifs. Also most children will first react to the beat of a song and it is only when the child gets older that he will get into the melody of songs. Is this why the recording companies in India release so much of dance music?!

Leaving aside the frivolity, rhythm has got great qualities and can also get very complicated! Indian rhythm has been diligently codified and has a rich tradition. So do the African and Latino people and Rhythm is a universal language that transcends all barriers. Rhythm is also infectious and it has a trance like quality which lends itself to ritualistic behavior and a simple well played rhythmic beat can enchant the entire world.

MELODY : This is the main musical line that is played by the lead instrument or voice. It has different pitches i.e. higher or lower. The more the notes in a melody, the more complicated it is. I must add that this does not been that it is better! Every melody also has a rhythm in it with which it determines how it travels through time. They say that Melody is king in India and Indians generally like melody based music.

Traditionally, music in India has developed along melodic lines and we have a very sophisticated raga system which has codified the melodic scales with its various different emphases on notes which brings out its different flavours. Over the centuries, Indian Musicologists have refined the melodic system to an incredible definition that is unparalleled anywhere else in the world. Rhythm too has been lavished with the same devotion and today Indian Music stands on the pinnacle as far as its sophistication in Melody and Rhythm goes. However, it has almost totally neglected an aspect of music called Harmony.

HARMONY : Physics tells us that every note has its fundamental note and then the harmonics or secondary notes. These harmonics are at far lower volume as compared to the fundamental but they are there, whether you like it or not! Traditionally, as Music developed in different parts of the world, the west took a turn towards the development of harmonics in the notes and Harmony was born.

Sociologically, Music played a very important role in places where people gathered, whether for religious reasons or festivities. Often songs were sung at such occasions. I’m sure the composers of those days decided that it would be more interesting if groups of people sang different notes together instead of the same melody line. Already, stringed instruments produced harmonics and people, singing these harmonics, would accentuate them and at the same time sound natural and aesthetic. The church played a very major role in the development of music in the west and the Gregorian Chants are world famous even today as one of the first known pieces of Western music that have carried on through the centuries. Community singing and orchestras were a common occurrence in the west and wherever more than one person had to handle the melodic, harmony helped the music to sound richer and pleasing. No doubt, the music requirements of those days made it imperative that the composers of those days developed the harmonic nature of music whereby now it has been developed into a fine art which is extremely sophisticated. Hence orchestral music and choir singing has developed greatly in the west while it has been totally neglected in India.

As an aside, I have always felt that other societies develop a work culture where the need to work efficiently in groups is taught and music is used as one of the ways to foster that kinship. Western and other societies thus develop a greater understanding of working with people and thus strength in numbers while in India, the lack of these social skills leads to the "crab" effect where the individual is paramount to the detriment of the group. Every child in the United States learns music and leaves school playing in the school orchestra and having learnt at least 2 musical instruments .I wish the leaders of this nation would insist on involving children in community skills like team games, group gymnastics, large music orchestras etc, The better we can work in groups the stronger our nation can be! On one of my tours abroad, I visited Korea where I attended a presidential rally in a stadium full of school children who put up an incredible exhibition of synchronised gymnastics. All the primary school children of the city were present in that huge stadium and each member of that huge gathering was playing an incredibly important role in the whole exercise. One solitary mistake would have destroyed the entire routine and brought it crashing down like a pack of cards! The discipline inculcated in these children and such an early age is sure to have an enormous impact on the conduct of their lives in the later years. We need to realise that, at times, we are just a cog in the wheel and have to conduct ourselves thus without loosing our individuality. The joy experienced when a collective victory is achieved is boundless and invigorating and is far more satisfying than any individual triumph as we share it with so many people.

LYRICS : Vocal music can also have the added dimension of lyrics or the text of the songs that are sung. Lyrics can play a vital role in the appreciation of Music and its impact on our lives. The great lyricists and poets have always used music to carry their words to the masses and we cannot imagine the scriptures of India to be conveyed in any other way. In fact in Folk Indian tradition, poetry is always recited in a musical way. Music is used as a tool to enhance the impact of the words and this technique is used by artistes all over the world. India has a strong musical drama tradition in various parts of our country where music serves as an excellent technique to impact the audience. I have always believed that to the Indian, the words of a song play as important a role in the appreciation of a song as the tune. Yet unfortunately, lyricists in India are still paid poorly as compared to their musician colleagues.

Part 3 of this article continues with a description of the Different Roles of a developing Musician.

Nandu Bhende : nandu@sudeepaudio.com
The author is one of the pioneers of Pop and Rock Music in India.